The fall to-do list looms. Finish scraping and painting the house. Put the garden to bed. Clean the register vents. Check the furnace. Clean the chimney. Mulch the leaves and put them in the compost. Muck out the chicken coop. Repair the storm windows. Make sure the firewood is in. Make applesauce and pear butter and cider and dried apples. Freeze the last of the beans and pickle the last of the cucumbers. Endless. Sigh. So we went for a walk.

It may seem like the natural world is slowing down in this season. At first glance, the trees are stopping their photosynthesizing, many plants are dried and brittle and grass is certainly not growing much anymore. It does seem like lethargy is overtaking the world. Many people seem to wait during this season … wait for apples, wait for the leaves to change color, wait for it to get cold enough to turn the heat on. So it may appear slow to some.

Then I notice the squirrels and chipmunks, frantic in their search for hickory nuts, acorns, birdseed and pine cones. Running sprints back and forth from lair to grocery, they are filling their larders almost manically. Birds, too, seem to, in a relay race – one lands on the feeder, grabs seeds and takes off as another comes in. Chickadees and nuthatches, blue jays and sparrows are all gorging themselves and filling their caches in the forest.

Groundhogs eat and eat and eat, building the layers of fat like we wear sweaters. This fat will keep them alive this winter as they hibernate in their burrows. Many other mammals are eating to gain weight – skunks, raccoons, bears, jumping mice, chipmunks and more. Fat is an insurance policy against the lean winter, the days when hunting is nearly impossible or unsuccessful. The animals know this. Even snakes and turtles are out basking on the last sunny days, building up the vitamins that will get them through winter torpor.

So fall is not a particularly slow time. Even the plants, though their tops are slowing, are active as they continue to store sap in the roots, a subterranean pantry ready for the day that spring tickles their toes and wakes them up. This autumn energy was evident on the walk we took.

All of the thousands of chestnut acorns that had just started dropping a few weeks ago were gone. I found just one. Turkeys and squirrels and crows and deer and bears had gobbled or hoarded the rest. It was remarkable as the boughs were bent under the weight of the mast. Wandering through the field to the forest edge, the white oak was empty, as well as the red oaks. I couldn’t even feel an acorn under my feet as I walked beneath the trees. I suppose that the animals have nothing else to do all day but gather food. No “day job” sucks their time away.

We flipped a few boards and the well cover to find some baby red-bellied snakes soaking up the morning warmth. A garter snake slithered into the grass in the field, perhaps on its way to the hibernaculum. Out at the bird feeder the chipmunks were still filling their cheek pouches with black oil sunflower seeds. I really should just call it a squirrel feeder this time of year.

This season has always been busy for animals and humans alike. When people relied more on their local land, fall and even early winter were fall-down-exhausted times of the year. Slaughter the chickens and the hogs, cure or can the meat. Hunt for the rest of your meat – deer and squirrel and turkey. Turn it into jerky and stew and steaks. Collect walnuts and hickory nuts for a winter protein source when the meat runs low. Harvest, preserve, collect, store, go, go, go.

Migrate, eat, grow winter coats, store food, change your diet, find a shelter, lay eggs and build a nest. These are the mandates of autumn. It is not slow. Do it all before the snow flies and you have no idea when that might be. Soon it will be still. Soon it will be quiet. Soon. For now, we will continue to treasure the daylight and check things off the list, working side by side with the squirrels as we all sprint toward winter.

Come and enjoy the fall activity at Audubon Nature Center. The trails are open from dawn to dusk daily and the building is open from 10 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. except Sundays when doors open at 1 p.m. The center is located at 1600 Riverside Road, just off Route 62 between Warren, Pa., and Jamestown. Call 569-2345 or visit jamestownaudubon.org for more information about upcoming programs and events.

Sarah Hatfield is a naturalist at the Nature Center.