As winter approaches, you are probably breaking out your warm coat and spending more time inside. When you need food, you make a trip to the grocery store. But for animals who live outside all year, winter presents unique challenges as the temperature drops and food becomes scarce.
Animals who live in aquatic settings also move deeper to find warmer waters. Frogs, turtles and many fish travel to the bottom of the ponds and lakes where they live. Some aquatic animals become dormant, expending less energy by moving very little. Cold water holds more oxygen than warm water, and the frogs and turtles can breath by absorbing it through their skin.
Some animals such as bears, skunks and chipmunks hibernatefor part or all of the winter. Hibernation is like a deep sleep, during which the animal?s temperature drops and its breathing and heartbeat slow down. To prepare for the long state of inactivity, these animals eat extra food in the fall, storing the energy as fat that they burn during hibernation.
Other animals, including many birds, migrate. This means that as the weather grows colder, the animals relocate to warmer climates. Some birds travel in large flocks, but others fly by themselves.
Butterflies and some other insects also migrate. Monarch butterflies spend the summer in Canada and the northern U.S., but migrate as far south as Mexico for the winter.
Earthworms also migrate to warmer grounds; they burrow deeper into the earth, some as far as 6 feet below the surface.
Provided by the National Aquarium. For more information, visit www.aqua.org.
