00:00Hibernation. How animals survive winter by vanishing from the world.
00:05Hibernation is not just a long nap. It is survival slowed almost to a whisper.
00:12Nya. Some animals disappear for months when food vanishes, temperatures crash, and staying active would cost too much energy.
00:20The edible dormouse is one of the most extreme examples.
00:24In some cases, it can stay underground for most of the year, making it a serious contender for the longest
00:30hibernator.
00:32Arctic ground squirrels are just as astonishing.
00:35They can spend much of the year in burrows, dropping their body temperature lower than any other measured mammal,
00:42then periodically warming themselves back up while still deep in winter sleep.
00:47Bats, hedgehogs, marmots, wood frogs, poor wills, and some turtles all use their own versions of seasonal shuttles.
00:54But hibernation is not the same for every animal.
00:58A bear's winter denning is different from a tiny mammal's deep torpor.
01:03Some animals wake occasionally.
01:05Some slow their heartbeat.
01:08Some nearly freeze.
01:10Some breathe so rarely that life looks paused.
01:14The lesson is simple.
01:15Winter does not only reward strength.
01:18It rewards timing.
01:20The animals that survive the longest are not always fighting the cold.
01:25Sometimes, they beat it by vanishing from the world until the world is ready for them again.
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