The process of hibernation is a simple natural process that several mammals undergo to survive the winter season, when food would be relatively hard to come by. Animals capable of hibernation include: bears, rodents, frogs, the European hedgehog, anteaters, echidnas, butterflies and even some species of marsupial.
What does hibernation mean?
Some species of insects will also engage in communal hibernation; the wasp species Polistes exclamans will cluster together in a hibernacula, an area known to be safe from predators and the environment.
When an animal undergoes the process, its body temperature cools, its breathing and heart rate slow and its metabolism sharply decreases for a period of time that can last several months. Bears’ hibernation is notable because they are able to recycle their urine and proteins instead of expending them.
While the term “hibernation” was initially used to define a state of lowered body temperature, it is now used to denote a state of metabolic suppression. Torpor is a similar state to hibernation, but that process refers only to a lowering of body temperature; birds do not hibernate but do engage in torpor, with the debatable exception of the common poorwill.
Animal types & hibernation
Some reptiles, like turtles, undergo a similar process known as brumation; when temperatures cool and daylight lasts shorter periods, a brumating reptile will abstain from water while possibly consuming more food-hibernating animals will consume more food and water in preparation for hibernation.
The reason why animals engage in the process is to slow the body’s processes and ration out energy reserves within the body. This is initially accomplished by slowing the metabolism and then lowering its core body temperature. While the process can last days, weeks or even months, a variety of variables influence duration: the species, environmental temperatures, the time of year and even the animal’s overall health.
Prior to entering hibernation, animals will collect far greater amounts of food than normal. Where larger animals simply devour more food and let it convert to fat, smaller creatures focus on caching food stored within their lairs. Some pregnant mammals will even give birth while, or shortly after, hibernating.
Featured Image from Peter Neumann/Unsplash
