When dwarf lemurs hibernate, they reduce their heart rates from over 300 beats per minute to fewer than 6. They are the only primate known to engage in a combined hibernation and torpor state for a long period of time. Let’s look at some common examples of animals that hibernate and how they go about it.
Animals that hibernateĪnimals hibernate in lots of different ways.
But once they begin to hibernate again, their body temperature, breathing rate, and heart rates drop back. Their body temperature, breathing rate, and heart rate usually return to normal once they are awake. Once they are awake, they carry on as usual. Unlike true hibernators, Light sleep hibernators wake up more often during the winter. Bears, opossums, raccoons, and skunks are the most famous example of this kind of hibernation. They are not seen as true hibernators because their own hibernation is not as deep and long as a true hibernator. Some other animals that hibernate are considered to be light sleep hibernators. Nevertheless, as spring approaches, they wake up more frequently. They may wake up every few weeks to eat and, like in the case of groundhogs, use the bathroom in their burrow. True hibernating animals can sleep so deep that to wake up is pretty difficult and takes a lot of time and energy. For instance groundhogs, ground squirrels and many species of bats are true hibernators. The fact is they do wake up, but how often, depends on whether they are true hibernators or light sleep hibernators. There is a misconception that when animals hibernate they do not wake up. There are tropical animals that may go into hibernation just to beat the heat. Although hibernation is often seen as a seasonal behavior, it’s not only exclusive to cold-weather animals. This enables them to survive the season.Ī similar state, known as estivation (prolonged torpor or dormancy of an insect, fish, or amphibian during a hot or dry period.) occurs in some desert animals during the dry months of summer. According to National Geographic, they enter into a period of inactivity in which their metabolism is just 5 percent its normal rate. When the weather is cold and food is in short supply, animals like hedgehogs, bears, and bats become inactive just to save energy and reduce their need for food. Hibernation is very different even though it is often thought to be a long sleep. People feel when animals hibernate, they are just sleeping.
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