Results for other hibernating species as climate warms.Maybe you can relate: Winter isn’t always the ideal time to be an animal. The scientist who made this discovery, Craig Frank of Fordham University, fears that this evidence could suggest dire The research indicates that chipmunks that follow normal hibernation procedures enjoy a survival rate through winter of about 87 percent, while those that remain active because of warm winter weather are almost certain to die by spring. Body temperature may drop from 94 degrees F to whatever the temperature of the burrow is-as cold as 40 degrees F.Ī new study has found that as winter temperature heats up because of global warming, chipmunks in warmer areas become less likely to hibernate in the coldest months. Their heart rate declines from about 350 beats per minute to perhaps 4. When chipmunks are in the deep sleep phase of hibernation, they may be very difficult to arouse. They retreat to their burrows but wake every few days, raise their body temperatures to normal, feed on stored food rather than fat reserves, and urinate and defecate. Photo by National Wildlife Contest entrant Heather Moore.Ĭhipmunks hibernate in winter, but they don’t sleep all the way through the season. Wild chipmunks, on average, live two to three years captive specimens have lasted eight.īonus Item: Chipmunk Hibernation A chipmunk makes use of a fallen tree.
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