Garter snakes are known for hibernating in large groups of hundreds of individuals
Humans are thermostatic animals, which means that heat is generated inside our bodies. We are also able to maintain body temperature, keeping it more or less constant.
Not all animals have these physiological advantages. With the exception of a few species like the giant leatherback turtle, few reptiles or amphibians are able to maintain a constant body temperature. Since they can't warm themselves up, these creatures have to extract heat from their environment.
But what happens when the environment gets colder? How do frogs, snakes and tortoises spend their winter years in snow-covered areas, frozen lakes and below freezing temperatures?
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="7" > residents in the cellar</h1>
Many reptiles and amphibians experience extreme periods of seasonal inactivity. When the weather gets colder, their heart rate decreases, their metabolism slows down, and their body temperature decreases.
(Scientists disagree on the claim to this state.) Everyone acknowledges that it is a state of hibernation, but while some experts classify it as hibernating, others call it "brumation." ）
Hibernating snakes usually hide themselves in their winter burrows. These bunkers may take the form of abandoned rodent caves, cracks exposed to rock surfaces, or naturally formed holes under trees. It is also known that various snakes can turn a family's basement or garage into a cabin in winter.
In seasonally cold areas, snakes must carefully choose their nests. Ideally, the winter gathering will fall below the local frost line, which is the maximum depth of soil freezing.
Hiding underground is the survival strategy of choice for many turtles and sea turtles. Some species (such as gopher tortoises) dig their own holes, but often find shelled reptiles occupying pre-dug, unoccupied rodent holes.
Now hibernating black bears can sleep for more than 100 days without eating or drinking. Reptiles are more active during hibernation/hibernation. When the midwinter current arrives, they take the opportunity to climb to the surface of the water and bask in the sun for a while.
Reptiles are considered solitary, and this reputation is not exactly what they deserve. Think of the eastern diamond-backed rattlesnake, which doesn't seem to mind living with gopher turtles. Members of both species sometimes sleep together in the same cave.
Similarly, snakes often share their nests with other snakes. Garter snakes are known for hibernating in flocks, and flocks of snakes may have hundreds or even thousands. More than 8,000 snakes are reportedly hibernating together in a nest in Canada.
The wood frog buries itself under a thin pad of fallen leaves on the forest floor and then remains dormant for up to eight months
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="19" > frog</h1>
Like snakes, garter belts are very hardy. Even 40% of the liquid water in its body condenses into a solid, and only if it is thawed after a few hours is the species likely to survive.
However, wood frogs take their frost resistance to a whole new level. As a native Animal of North America, this cold-weather warrior is unique in that it is the only amphibian in the Western Hemisphere whose range extends to the Arctic Circle.
Every autumn, the wood frog buries itself under a thin pile of fallen leaves on the forest floor. They will then remain dormant for up to eight months.
During this process, the heart temporarily stops beating and the frog goes into a state of suspended animation. Due to weather, amphibians freeze at both temperate and polar latitudes. Fortunately, the liver pumps a lot of glucose into the bloodstream, while urine remains in the body. All of this helps prevent cell drying, which is what usually happens during the freezing process.
As a result, 65% of the total water in a wood frog's body will freeze, while amphibians will still live until the next day. In addition, the frog can be frozen at -18 degrees Celsius for up to 218 days.
Another example of having this super cool survival trick can be found in the Far North of Russia. Siberian salamanders live at minus 50 degrees Celsius (minus 58 degrees Fahrenheit) or less. To survive, it hibernates under logs, vegetation, and snowdrifts. When most of its body's water turns to ice, an "antifreeze chemical" in its blood keeps it alive.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="26" > what lurks under the ice</h1>
Terrestrial amphibians, such as wood frogs, are less capable of digging burrows, either hibernating in their original burrows or seeking shelter on the ground. Excellent burrowing animals, such as the American toad and the spotted salamander, take the initiative to dig their own winter burrows that extend below the frost line.
For aquatic amphibians, there is another option. Bullfrogs are residents of lakes and ponds that spend their winters in oxygen-rich bodies of water and are imprisoned under the surface ice that forms there.
Spotted turtle
Reptiles usually use their lungs to breathe, but some semi-aquatic turtles can also absorb oxygen from the water through their skin. Spotted turtles do a very good job of this, and they can reduce their metabolic rate to 95 to 99 percent every winter. This is how they survive under the thick lake ice for months on end. Sometimes, you can even see them swimming under the frozen ice.
Then there are crocodiles, which cannot survive for more than a week when trapped in icy water. In order to live for a long time in winter, they will dig deep burrows with mud by the water's edge.
Isn't it strange that reptiles and amphibians spend the winter?