Brr!  It’s cold out here!  And when it gets this cold these little critters that live out here are either going to shiver or hibernate. And we are going to talk about hibernation.

Hibernation is a strategy that some animals employ to cope with extreme temperatures. Hibernation not like human sleep where loud noises can wake you up.  With true hibernation, the animal can be moved around or touched and not know it.

With normal sleep, the animal moves a little, has an active brain, and can wake up very quickly.  With true hibernation, the animal appears dead.  There is no movement and it takes a long time for it to wake up enough to even walk around. During the fall, hibernating animals eat more food than usual.  Their fat is their critical energy source.  A hibernating animal’s body saves energy by doing a couple of cool things.

When an animal begins to hibernate, its body temperature drops very low so that it almost matches the temperature outside.    The animal’s heartbeat and breathing slow down, too, further reducing their energy requirements. Their bodies will live off their body fat as they ‘sleep’ through winter.

Some warm-blooded hibernators are: Prairie Dogs, Raccoon, Skunks, and depending on who you talk to, Bears, Badgers, Bats, Chipmunks,  Ground squirrels, Marmots, and Woodchucks. From the University of Wyoming Cooperative Extension Service, I’m Eric Peterson.