Protecting wildlife for our children's future
National Wildlife Federation logo Photos of wildlife

« Humans and their Animal Phobias | Main | Leap Year Frog Blog! Frog Facts, Martha Stewart and More »

Bookmark and Share

10 Extraordinary Animal Tactics for Surviving the Cold

beeladybugSeal



Whether they hibernate, have thick fur coats or take shelter, animals are masters of surviving the cold weather. Here are a number of interesting animals and the fascinating things they do to survive harsh conditions.

  1. Japan's macaques monkeys keep warm by taking hot baths in volcanic springs.

  2. Polar bears (or "solar bears") soak up the sun with their black skin, which is covered by a coat of  clear hair that conducts the sun's heat. Not to mention they also have a handy 4 inches of fat to insulate them.

  3. Animals will also flock to warmth created by humans, such as pigeons in Chicago that huddle around the Eternal Flame and manatees that seek out warm water discharge from power plants.

  4. Aside from having blubber, penguins avoid losing energy and heat when they exhale by using special nasal passages to reclaim the warm air.

  5. Some honey bees huddle together to make a winter cluster in order to keep warm.

  6. Bees aren't the only ones that huddle together, even bats and ladybugs will huddle for warmth in a safe place.

  7. Various plants depend on snow to trap heat and insulate them from cold winds.

  8. Seals have a special set of blood vessels that function to conserve heat.

  9. Occasionally some fish will use a natural anti-freeze to keep from freezing in low temperatures.

  10. When water is scarce, wild bactrian camels will eat snow.

Despite all these adaptations you can still do your part to help wildlife survive the winter in your own backyard. Here's a few bird feeding tips.

TrackBack

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d8341ca02253ef00e5507a43518834

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference 10 Extraordinary Animal Tactics for Surviving the Cold:

Comments

Feed You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.

11 - Humans burn the fossilized remains of other animals

11 - Humans burn the fossilized remains of other animals
http://www.spymac.com/details/?2146727

Some animals have basically a glycol similar antifreeze with peptides in their blood in order that their blood can become supercooled below zero centigrade and not freeze or congeal

Most plants use natural wax to cover their leaves from the cold.

11 - Humans burn the fossilized remains of other animals.

Post a comment

If you have a TypeKey or TypePad account, please Sign In.


© 1996- National Wildlife Federation | 11100 Wildlife Center Dr, Reston VA 20190 | 800-822-9919
Contact Us | Jobs at NWF | Link to NWF | Site Map | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use