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Hibernating AnimalsHibernating Animals

What is Hibernation?What is Hibernation?

• It is a state of inactivity or sleep that allows many animals to survive winter or seasons that bring little food and water. The following usually happens in hibernation:

• Decreased metabolism

• Decreased body temperature

• Decreased heart beat and breathing rate

BearsBears

• Only four species of bear are hibernators: American Black Bear, Asiatic Black bear, Brown bear and Polar bear. These furry mammals don’t hibernate in the true sense because their body temperature only drops a little bit and they can wakeup at any moment. In fact, a pregnant mama bear will have her cubs during the hibernation period. Like true hibernators, the bear’s heartbeat will slow down and they can go for a long time without having any food. During hibernation a Black bear’s heart can drop from 40-50 to 8 beats per minute and they can last as long as 100 days without eating or drinking!

Common PoorwillCommon Poorwill

Common PoorwillCommon Poorwill

• It isn’t often that you hear about a bird that sleeps the bad weather away, that’s because the Common Poorwill is the only known bird species to hibernate. It picks a spot under shallow rocks or rotten logs and stays there for up to five months. Its daily energy needs drop by 93% and it can stay asleep for 100 days! Its body temp drops down to 60 F. Once hibernation is over, it needs seven hours to get back to its normal temperature.

HedgehogHedgehog

HedgehogHedgehog

• Hedgehogs are some of the deepest hibernators around. Some can sleep through the whole winter! Their body temperature drops and they breathe so little that it can hardly be seen. They have special cells that release heat 20 times faster than white cells. If temperatures drop too low, their heart beat picks up to produce more heat, which wakes them up briefly before they fall asleep again.

SnailSnail

SnailSnail

• Snails have a built in bed for their hibernation. They go into their shell, close up the hole with a skin made of chalk and slime that keeps the moisture in. During this time, they use almost no energy and don’t have to eat anything at all. In some areas where there is little rain, snails can hibernate for years!

Fat-Tailed Dwarf LemursFat-Tailed Dwarf Lemurs

Fat-Tailed Dwarf LemursFat-Tailed Dwarf Lemurs

• These live in Madagascar where temperatures in June and July usually stay about 86 degrees F. Now that might seem pretty warm to you, but this is actually the coldest time of the year for these lemurs. During this cold spell Fat-tailed Dwarf Lemurs pick a tree and settle there for about seven months until the rains return in November and food is available again. During their hibernation, they live off the fat in their tail (hence fat-tailed) losing close to 50% of their body weight!

Alpine MarmotsAlpine Marmots

Alpine MarmotsAlpine Marmots

• Found in mountainous areas of central and southern Europe. Marmots hibernate for up to eight months! They spend the four months they are awake having babies and preparing for the next hibernation. During hibernation they take only 2-3 breaths a minute and their heartbeat slows down from their normal 120 beats to 3-4 beats a minute!