It’s bedtime, sleepyheads!
- POSTED ON: 11 Nov, 2020
- TOTAL VIEWS: 444 Views
- POSTED BY: Madhuvanti. S. Krishnan
- ARTICLE POINTS: 150 Points
What do you do when it gets cold? Wear warm clothes, and bury yourselves under blankets and take a good long nap, right? Well, that’s what animals do too. This is called hibernation. Hibernation is a way for many creatures — from bears to bats — to survive the bitingly cold, dark winters without having to hunt for food or migrate to warmer places. What they do, instead, is bring down their metabolism to save energy.
It is a lot more than merely sleeping, though. Depending on the species, it can range from long, deep unconsciousness to light spells of inactivity. Bears, for instance, are the most common species that go into hibernation. Get to know some more animals that love a cosy nap.
Fat-tailed dwarf lemur
Found in the dry forest areas of western and southern Madagascar, these nocturnal creatures love a long nap — they hibernate for about six months, during which they live off the fat from everything they ate in the warmer months and stored in their tails. It is not uncommon to find them curled up in groups, in the comfort of shelters such as a hollow tree.
Hedgehogs
Much like bears, wild hedgehogs spend their waking months focused on getting plump for the winter. This spiny creature goes into a kind of hibernation known as torpor, during which it lowers its body temperature to match the surrounding temperature. While in this state, the hedgehogs’ movement is limited for the six of seven months that it spends hibernating. It prefers hibernating by burrowing into dry, sheltered areas or beneath sheds, in old rabbit holes, or even in piles of compost.
Ground squirrels
These furry creatures prefer to hide underground rather than on trees. Not all ground squirrels hibernate, but the ones that do like to stay in their underground homes for their winter rest. When they are asleep, their body temperature, heart rate, and breathing decreases drastically, thereby slowing down their metabolism. They wake up occasionally when the weather is warm and may scurry out of their tunnel for a short time.
Prairie dogs
Did you know that these creatures aren’t really dogs, but rodents that are the size of a rabbit? While they curl up with their families in their underground tunnels throughout the year, they stay “home” even more during winter. Like the ground squirrel, they don’t fully hibernate but slow down during winter. They come out during the day to gather food and go into a state of torpor at night, when their heart rate and metabolism become lower.