Hi - Bear - Nation

Now that winter is here for what could be another six months, I have noticed I see less of my neighbors than I do during the summer months. This is no doubt because we all spend more time keeping warm inside than playing in the cold outside. It is almost as if we are, in a way, hibernating. The more I thought about it, the more the idea of me eating enough to sustain a long winter’s nap intrigued me.

After some initial research I found the idea of hibernation even more compelling. Take, for example, the American black bear, which can go up to 100 days with out eating, drinking, urinating, defecating or exercising.

Black bears are able to accomplish this for a couple of reasons. First, they start preparing for winter in early summer by eating a mostly carbohydrate diet to gain about 30 pounds a week. Second, they are also able to slow their metabolism, which aids in conserving energy and helps explain why they can, well, “hold it,” for three months.

Bears are one of the most famous animals that hibernate, and because of this I seldom thought of other animals going through the same process. I soon discovered that many other animals hunker down through the winter and some, like bats, hunker down much more than the most famous hibernators.

I do not know a lot about bats, but what I do know I really enjoy. They use echolocation — a kind of natural nighttime navigation system —  to find and eat miserable mosquitoes. In researching, I learned bats not only hibernate, but they do it with style. Bats, along with ground squirrels, are in a category I like to call hardcore hibernators because of the drastic body changes they are able to endure while hibernating.

Bats and ground squirrels can slow their heartbeats from 80 to about five beats per minute and their internal temperature can drop from 97 degrees to 38 degrees. This is quite a difference from the famous hibernating black bears that maintain an internal temperature of around 88, only about a dozen ticks lower that their summertime body temperature of 100 degrrees.

I have a close connection with fish. I focused on fisheries in college, my dad worked most of his life with fish, and I spend as much time as possible fishing. One would think I had a good idea of what happens to fish in winter, and one would be wrong.

To my surprise, fish, in a way, also hibernate. They, too, lower their metabolism and hunker down in rocks and deep ponds. One major difference with “cold-blooded” fish, when compared to “warm-blooded” mammals, is their blood temperature mirrors that of the water. If the water is 35 degrees, then the fish’s blood temperature is 35, too.

Now that there is finally snow on the ground, I remember there’s a lot to enjoy outside in winter. If I slept through the winter or stayed inside just to keep warm, I would miss out on all the skiing I plan to do with my daughter this year. So bundle up and wear a hat so you don’t sleep through this year’s winter and enjoy everything Montana has to offer!