What animals hibernate facts for kids?
What animals hibernate facts for kids?
1. When animals hibernate, they aren’t sleeping. When the weather is cold and food is in short supply, animals like hedgehogs, bears and bats become inactive to save energy. During hibernation their heart rates and breathing slow down, and their body temperature drops.
Do bears hibernate for kids?
When a bear ‘hibernates’ it is really in a deep sleep. It’s body temperature drops but not drastically and it does not wake up…not even to go to the bathroom or get some food. The one exception is that a mother bear will wake up to give birth to her cubs in January or February.
Do frogs hibernate?
Aquatic frogs spend their winter on the bottom of lakes, ponds, or other bodies of water. And yes, when the temperature goes below freezing, the body temperature of these animals goes below freezing.
What do animals must do before they hibernate?
Before entering hibernation, animals need to store enough energy to last through the duration of their dormant period, possibly as long as the entire winter. Larger species become hyperphagic, eating a large amount of food and storing the energy in fat deposits.
Why do animals that hibernate eat a lot before hibernating?
Typically, animals hibernate in order to survive long periods when food is scarce . Hibernating creatures will generally eat a lot of food before hibernation and then survive off the energy stored in their fat. The physical changes involved in hibernation are far more extreme than what happens during sleep.
How do animals know when to hibernate?
Take a woodchuck , for example. The shorter days and cooling temperatures of autumn set its clock to time zero. The animal goes into hibernation, then wakes up about 180 days later. When its central nervous system sounds the alarm, a hibernator starts to shiver.
What do animals eat when they hibernate?
Animals prepare for hibernation in different ways. Squirrels and chipmunks gather nuts , while bears eat a lot to build up their fat reserves. Hibernating animals love a cozy place to rest just like we do, but their definition of “cozy” can vary.
