Can hibernating animals freeze to death and what happens when animals hibernate

The hibernation of animals is entirely a protective action against the unfavorable environment. The main factors that cause hibernation in animals are the decrease in ambient temperature and the lack of food. Scientists have experimentally proven that hibernation in animals causes a decrease in the function of the thyroid gland and adrenal glands.

At the same time, the gonads are normally developed. After hibernation, the antibacterial and disease resistance of animals has increased compared with usual, and it is obvious that hibernation is beneficial to them, so that they wake up the following spring with more sensitive movements, more vigorous appetite, and all organs in the body will show the phenomenon of rejuvenation.

So far, people have not been able to fully unravel the mystery of animal hibernation. But scientists have come to realize that studying animal hibernation is not only fun, but also valuable.

Most do not hibernate when an animal undergoes a series of physiological changes. Heart: Beats slowly, and the function of the heart is greatly reduced.

In this way, blood circulation disorders are effectively prevented; Lungs: Breathing slows down, up to 10 minutes at a time; Kidneys: produces very little urine output; Sex:

It stops completely before hibernation and slowly resumes during the period of deep hibernation. The only exceptions are bats; Brain: The bone marrow is still working in hibernation, and the midbrain replaces the diencephalon as the center of change of the thermoregulator.

Under natural conditions, you generally don't freeze to death, but if you keep thinking that there must be a time to freeze to death (especially in mammals).

Hibernating animals eat a lot of food before hibernation to give them the energy they need to replenish during hibernation. They all have thick fur on their bodies to keep them cold.

Under two conditions, hibernating critters cannot die, unless there are special circumstances, such as a thousand-year blizzard.

Generally not, unless not enough food is stored.

Most don't freeze to death. It's good to care for small animals.

The southern ones are estimated to die. After all, it's not a hundred years old.

The people in the north are used to it, and they can't die like this every year.

Death is common and common.

For example, the hibernation mortality of snakes in the following report.

Up to 34% 50%.

Organisms have their own tolerance temperatures, such as a fish in the Antarctic can only survive in the range of 2C to 4C, and if it is below its own tolerance minimum, then it is generally finished.

Whenever the climate gradually gets cold and food is scarce, many animals go into hibernation, fasting and adjusting the body, reducing the body's metabolism, and maintaining it at a relatively low basal metabolic consumption, in order to obtain a larger living space, so as to adapt to the changing internal and external environment. Therefore, the phenomenon of hibernation is a way for animals to adapt to the undesirable environment in the struggle for survival. When animals hibernate, they don't starve to death if they don't eat for the winter.

Because before hibernation, they have already begun to prepare for hibernation to survive this difficult period. The preparation before hibernation of these animals is very special, that is, from the beginning of the summer season, they gradually accumulate nutrients in their own bodies, which are enough to meet the basal metabolic consumption required by the body throughout the hibernation process. Despite the accumulation of a large amount of nutrients in the body, how can the hibernation period last for several months?

It turns out that during the hibernation period, the animal lies in the nest and does not eat or move, or rarely moves, the number of breaths decreases, the body temperature also drops, the blood circulation slows down, the metabolism is very weak, and the nutrients consumed are relatively reduced, so the nutrients stored in the body are enough. When the body's stored nutrients are almost depleted, the hibernation period will be over. In July 1946, a petroleum geologist unearthed a hibernating frog in an oil deposit in Mexico.

The frog was buried in a 2-meter-deep layer of mine, and when it was excavated, it was still soft and shiny, and it took two days before it died. Geologists have scientifically determined the deposit and confirmed that the deposit was formed more than 2 million years ago. And this frog can only be buried in the ore layer when the deposit is formed, and it is absolutely impossible to enter the ore layer after the deposit is formed.

It can be seen that the frog has survived in the mine for more than 2 million years. In April 1782, a stoneworker in the suburbs of Paris, France, mined a huge stone from a limestone layer at a depth of 4 to 5 meters. Splitting the stone open, it was unexpectedly discovered that there were 4 live toads hidden inside.

Scientists have scientifically determined this limestone layer and confirmed that it was formed more than 1 million years ago. It can be seen that these four toads have survived inside the rock for more than 1 million years. Why do toads and frogs hibernate in rocks and mines for more than 1 million or even 2 million years without dying?

Scientists in many countries have been studying this for a long time, but they have not yet achieved satisfactory results. Weak, after waking up, you have to swallow a lot of food to replenish nutrients, and it is volatile to return to normal as soon as possible.

In order to survive the winter, winter animals reduce the consumption of the body, enter a state of hibernation, in fact, it is a state of low power consumption, common hibernation animals are bears, snakes, crocodiles, hedgehogs, frogs, squirrels, bats, etc., some of these animals are semi-hibernating, they will wake up during hibernation, and find that the winter has not passed, they will go back to continue sleeping, which is why some animals we can't see in winter, these animals are mainly cold-blooded animals, when winter comes, their body temperature will decrease, breathing will slow down, and heartbeat will also decrease, In addition, if you don't exercise, the energy consumption is very small, and we humans also have a place to learn from hibernation, and if the current electronic devices are not operated for a long time, they will automatically enter the low power consumption, which is actually a manifestation of system hibernation, which is an energy-saving strategy, so "humans have been learning from wild animals", which is also a proof.

Beijing Zoo, you can observe a lot of hibernating animals in winter, "balance point" has seen hibernating pythons there, as well as polar bears, etc., the background zoo as a whole is transparent material, visitors can see their living conditions through the transparent observation port, but you need to go in winter, in fact, hibernating animals are best not to disturb them, it will mess up their biological clock, affecting their life and health.

Hibernating animals, the body temperature will generally drop to very low in winter, is jokingly called "cold-blooded", they avoid the problem of lack of food in winter by hibernating, reducing the amount of exercise, reducing the consumption of nutrients, in fact, human beings sometimes can avoid starvation by sleeping a lot, there are many such students in college in the past, they are not as convenient as it is now, to remit money through the post office, it takes a few days, so there will be starvation, some students are by sleeping and drinking water to get through the difficulty.

Most of the hibernating animals have to sleep until the sting comes, and they will wake up from their sleep when they hear the sound of spring thunder, so hibernation is also known as "winter sting", which means that they will lie dormant in winter, and only get up to find something to eat when they hear the call of spring thunder.

Hibernating animals have deep hibernation and need to sleep for a long time, and some animals will wake up halfway, polar bears are such a special case, they will come out when the weather warms up, once they find that the winter has not passed, mainly because there is no food to eat, so go back and continue to sleep.

Hibernating animals will accumulate energy as much as possible in the fall, that is, grow a body of fat, when they first hibernate they are a fat person, after a winter of consumption, they are already slimmer when they wake up, I don't know if this method will be used by the beauty? After sleeping for a few days, my body has recovered a lot after waking up.

In fact, many animals will enter a state of hibernation under certain conditions, including people, in fact, this phenomenon is also widespread in the plant kingdom, the leaves of the trees in the north fall off before winter, in fact, it is into a dormant state, during this period of slow growth, you can see through the rings, and we often think that the evergreen pine trees in all seasons, there is a kind of larch is like this, in Inner Mongolia Daxinganling is very much.

What else do you know about hibernation?

Frogs, turtles, and snakes will go into hibernation during the winter season. The main reason is that their body temperature is relatively low at this time, and it is difficult to maintain them to carry out various normal life activities. When winter comes, the temperature will continue to drop, and since they are ectotherms, their body temperature will also change and become relatively low.

The activity of these animals will also be affected by body temperature, can not continue to maintain an active state, at this time in order to survive, to resist the surrounding cold, can only find a safe place to burrow into the winter, during this period is not active, their own consumption is relatively small.

Another important reason is that you can't find food in winter. At this time, they can only hibernate to reduce their own energy consumption, otherwise they may starve to death. Of course, they also try to eat as much food as possible before going into hibernation.

Many, snakes, bears, turtles hibernate.

1.Difficult to adapt to cold weather.

When winter comes, the temperature drops to a certain stage, and it is difficult for these hibernating animals to function in their bodies. If you don't hide for hibernation, you may die. At this point, it is difficult to maintain body temperature.

As a small animal, this is a last resort.

2.Food is hard to find in winter.

As an animal in the wild, when winter comes, it may be difficult to find food. At this time, the energy in the body is difficult to maintain, and only by choosing the way of hibernation and not moving, the energy consumed will be a little less. Many animals will have a full stomach before hibernation, and even achieve the effect of eating support, as long as they do not move for a winter, they can get through it completely.

However, some animals will also wake up early, so it will be a little bad, after all, after waking up, it will be very difficult to hibernate again, and if you can't find the food you need, you will face a state of hunger.

3.Lowers metabolism and improves survival.

In the face of cold winters, it is likely that most animals will have a hard time surviving. However, if there is a hibernation environment, the creation is relatively warm, and if you do not move, the metabolism will be significantly reduced, so that the survival rate of hibernating animals will be significantly improved. It can be seen that this is a reason why not many animals choose to hibernate in order to survive.

The metabolism has been explored, and when you wake up again, you have to look for food in time.

Hibernating animals can be roughly divided into two categories, one is amphibians and reptiles. Amphibians and reptiles such as frogs, snakes, and turtles are ectotherms, and when the weather is cold, they cannot move and enter a state of hibernation.

The other group is mammals. Mammals are further divided into two types: bear and squirrel. Most hibernating animals use pre-stored fat (equivalent to 30%-40% of body weight) for energy during hibernation.

When the outside temperature drops, they lower their body temperature. Reducing the number of pulses and breaths saves energy, but the body temperature of bear-hibernating animals does not drop much, staying around 38°C or 30°C. Why is that?

It turns out that bears are huge, and it takes a long time for their body temperature to rise up after it drops. In addition, bears have a "trick" that doesn't have to be so energy-efficient. That is, the rock state, which never excretes during hibernation.

If urine is excreted, nitrogen compounds are excreted from the body, and instead of urinating, bears use the kidney wall to absorb them and reuse them as nutrients. Now some scientists have noticed this in bears"Trick", is exploring how it can be used to ** people with kidney disease.

So, do small mammals with squirrel animals also have this "trick"? Unfortunately they don't. Some of these animals need to dig holes in the ground to create a hole that can safely accommodate their bodies during hibernation, so they don't weigh much, up to 9 kilograms.

Animals such as bats have to "get up" from time to time to drain their feces and urine. But like bears, they store enough fat for energy first, so they don't eat or drink during hibernation. They are occasionally found storing food, but that is in case of famine when they wake up from hibernation too early in the spring.

However, animals such as voles are still inseparable from their food during hibernation. They wake up every 10 days during hibernation to excrete, then eat some food before going back to sleep. Their body temperature drops from 37°C-38°C to 8-10°C, and in some cases, even down.

What happens to these animals if the temperature is too low during hibernation? Generally, because their hibernation place is underground, it is difficult for the temperature to drop below 0 °C, but if the temperature of the hibernation place drops to about -10C, they will get up and shake the muscles of the body, so that the body produces heat, however, if they have to do so, it will be a good drain on the skin, so they are very cautious when choosing a hibernation place, and they must consider it in many ways, neither too cold nor too hot.