When it gets cold, what do you do?
I put on a jumper, stay inside and have a hot chocolate!
Animals can't put on a jumper, so what do they do in winter?
Winter is cold and there is less food around. Animals have three
choices. They can:
Hibernate
Hibernation is like a very deep sleep. Animals hide away in a
den or burrow. Their body temperature and heart rate slow down.
This helps them to save their energy. Hibernating animals wake up
in spring when the weather is nicer and there is more food
around.
Hibernating bear
Migrate
Would you like to go somewhere hot for the winter? That's what
migrating animals do. When the weather starts to get cold migrating
animals fly or swim to a warmer place where they can find food.
Geese migrating
Adapt
Animals that adapt to the cold weather often change their
appearance. They grow warmer fur or feathers and sometimes change
colour. Some animals change colour to camouflage themselves against
the snow. These animals can find food in winter, even though there
isn't much food around.
Mountain hares turn white in
winter for camouflage
Most of us have to adapt to the cold British winter. We put on
extra clothes and turn the heating on. If you could migrate or
hibernate, which would you pick? Would you fly off to a sunny
country or curl up in bed?