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Bears sleep all winter, but are there other animals that hibernate? The answer is yes! And today we count them. Ready? Let’s go to!
# 10 Sleeping animal: gopher
Unlike tree squirrels, many ground squirrels burrow.
With brown fur and long claws, ground squirrels look almost exactly like their tree-dwelling cousins. But instead of climbing with their nails, gophers use them as shovels.
Dozens of species of gophers roam the Earth – and not all of them hibernate. Fortunately, those who take a long winter nap do so with friends and family. How cozy!
Interesting fact about gophers: Gopher mums chew discarded snake skin and then lick their babies to hide their natural odors – effective protection from predators.
Click here to learn more about squirrels that can find food a foot below the snow.
# 9 Sleeping animal: chipmunk
They love to eat nuts, frolic with friends, and the trio made it to Hollywood! These are chipmunks, and many hibernate for the winter.
In the fall, chipmunks stuff their cheeks with acorns and store food in burrows, which are usually about 3 feet underground. Underground, their temperatures drop dramatically and they sleep 23 hours a day, sometimes waking up to eat nuts. But as soon as spring arrives, the chipmunks wake up and get down to business right away!
Fun fact about the chipmunk: People need about eight hours of sleep a day. Chipmunks need 15!
Click here to learn more about the chipmunks, the world’s most adorable rodents.
# 8 Sleeping Animal: Tree Frog
Every winter, tree frogs pass into a natural cryogenic state: their bodies freeze, but they remain alive! While sleeping, tree frogs look dead, but don’t worry, they are just sleeping – deep!
Tree frogs do not dig deep holes for wintering. Instead, they usually settle right underground. Often their needs are met by piles of leaves or bark. Once in place, they shut off the respiratory and cardiovascular systems. That’s right: their hearts stop beating! Then their body water turns to ice, and the hibernation shutdown is complete. With the onset of spring, tree frogs thaw and prepare for the mating season.
Fun fact about the wood frog: Tree frogs are the northernmost amphibians in North America. Populations exist even beyond the Arctic Circle!
# 7 Hibernating Animal: Garter Snake
Garter snakes hibernate in cold climates – and for garters, it’s a social event. Reptiles glide long distances to find ideal hibernation flocks, and they hide in burrows like flip flops. One day, scientists stumbled upon a garter hibernation den, home to over 8,000 snakes!
Garter snakes carry traces of a venom that stuns small animals, but it is virtually harmless to humans, and many people keep reptiles as pets.
Garter Snake Funny Fake: Like almost all snakes, garter snakes swallow food whole.
# 6 Sleeping Animal: Bat
Some species of bats, the only flying mammals on Earth, hibernate. Those who live or migrate to warmer shores don’t, but those who build their homes in colder climates hide between late fall and mid-March.
Like most hibernating animals, bats drop sharply in temperature for winter sleep. But unlike some sleeping bats, you don’t need to eat while sleeping. They just shut down for six months and put it off 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
If you have an attic, keep an eye out for wintering bats. They have no problems arriving and opening a store. How worried they are their home is their home!
Fun fact about the bat: If bats disappear, bananas, avocados and mangoes disappear.
Learn more about bats that use echolocation to get around.
# 5 Hibernating Animal: Common Poor
The common poor are the birds that live along the west coast of North America. But instead of flying south for the winter, those in the north are left to sit and hide in hollows and logs.
In the fall, ill-wishers feed on insects. During hibernation, their bodies extract nutrients from digested and stored bug fat.
Common Fact About Having Fun with the Poor: The poor ordinary are the only known wintering birds, and they look like miniature owls.
# 4 Hibernating animal: fat-tailed pygmy lemurs.
You can find adorable primates in the dry forests of Madagascar, but don’t look for the colder months – because fat-tailed pygmy lemurs hibernate. About five fat tails will curl up together in the hollow of a tree to sleep through the winter. Their heart rate slows down, as does their metabolism, and their bodies instinctively survive by storing fat.
Fun fact about the fat-tailed pygmy lemur: Sleeping lemurs can lower their standard heart rate from 800 beats per minute to eight beats per minute!
# 3 Sleeping animal: Hedgehog.
Some hedgehogs – porcupine siblings – hibernate in small, dry, protected areas away from predators. You can usually find them sleeping in abandoned rabbit holes, under woodpiles, and even in compost heaps!
To survive hibernation, they need to weigh at least 600 grams. During a resting period, their body temperature drops in line with their environment, their heart rate drops, and they stop breathing for a while.
Interesting hedgehog fact: Hedgehogs are immune to snake venom. Yes, hedgehogs fight snakes – and they often win!
Click here to learn more about hedgehogs, which are one of the oldest animals on Earth.
# 2 Sleeping animal: bumblebees.
Where do bumblebees go in winter? Unfortunately, most of them die in the fall, but the bumblebee queens build shelters for hibernation. In the spring, they start new colonies. Some fashionable ladies hibernate for up to nine months without eating anything!
Where do bumblebees winter? Mostly in strategically located mud pits, away from the winter sun.
Interesting fact about bumblebees: Bumblebees have smelly paws!
Find out more about bumblebees, which are the most common type of bee.
# 1 Sleeping Animal: Box Turtles
Box turtles – popular domestic and wild animals – hibernate.
Unlike other animals that need to adapt or find suitable hibernation conditions, box turtles simply crawl inside their shells. They usually take shelter somewhere between mid-September or early October and stay that way for three to four months.
Fun Box Turtle Fact: Box turtles have soft shells for up to seven years.
And here it is, a list of animals hibernating, but not bears! Next: 10 best dogs for home life.
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