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As winter gives way to spring, our outdoor activities change with the season as we spend more time outside. What about the animals who spend all their time outside? What have they been doing all winter?<\/p>\n
Animals do one of three things during winter: migrate, hibernate or adapt.<\/p>\n
When we think of migration, we primarily think of birds. However, other animals such as elk, caribou and whales also migrate to find food. Scientists are still studying migration, but it is thought that migration cycles are controlled by the changes in the amount of daylight and weather.<\/p>\n
There is a common misconception that all animals that sleep through winter are hibernating. Some of them are \u201ctrue hibernators\u201d while others are simply in a state of torpor, which is a period of inactivity. Animals in torpor maintain their body temperature whereas true hibernators \u2014 such as bats, ground squirrels, and marmots \u2014 decrease their body temperature, heart rate and metabolism. Marmots can drop their respiratory rate as low as two breaths a minute! These true hibernators wake up only periodically throughout the winter because it is very energy intensive for them. A hibernating animal usually wakes up only to defecate and refuel from their stocked \u201cpantry\u201d of food called a cache.<\/p>\n
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