Animal 'suffering' after hibernation

Many animals, especially those in cold countries, are forced to hibernate to survive the harsh weather. Spring comes, they wake up, and once again have to change their lifestyle.

According to The New York Times , hibernating animals often need a fair amount of energy to wake up when spring comes, so they maintain their body temperature not too low to easily wake up.

However, most animals have difficulty with change. In some mammals, their body weight is reduced by half compared to before hibernation.

Lethargy for more weeks

Black bears after awakening often sleep in a few weeks to a month and actively do not go far away - (Photo: GETTY IMAGES).

Black bears often wake up in April but are still unconscious and lethargic from a few weeks to months. At this time, they still maintain the habit of sleeping a lot and actively do not go far from their place to stay safe.

Because of the loss of about one-third of the body mass after hibernation, bears often do not eat when they wake up because the body's metabolic system has not returned to its previous activity.

A special feature of hibernating bears is that some females can give birth during this time. The mother bear is able to wake up for a moment when the baby cries, then continues to sleep.

Spring wakes up, the mother bears often find trees with hard outer shells for them to climb climbing.

" It took nearly a month for the metabolic system to return to normal . When the plants sprouted, the bears really did work," said Lynn Rogers, a bear specialist at the Institute for Wildlife Research. USA) said.

"Discharge" immediately

The first thing that bees do is . "discharge" after the cold winter - (Photo: GETTY IMAGES).

Bees do not completely hibernate, but many species reduce their activity in the cold period. In winter, they are often in caves, gathered around queen bees and mobilized to generate heat.

The only food of the bees during this time is the source they store from the summer.

When the weather is warmer, the first thing the bees do is to fly many places just to "discharge" . This is because when winter is over, they often limit excretion because of fear of dirtying their nest.

Next, bees will find the source of water to compensate for the shortage in the cold. At the same time, they will "watch" places where grass flowers begin to bloom to harvest a few days later.

According to Mehmet Ali Doke, TS at the University of Pennsylvania (USA), the winter end is the time when bees compete fiercely with each other.

"They wrestle everything they can to bring it back to the nest. Even if you let go of the sugar on the side of the cup of coffee, they don't hesitate to take it," said Mr. Doke.

"Wake up" after hibernation

Male squirrels often "wake up" after hibernating - (Photo: GETTY IMAGES)

Arctic ground squirrel ( Spermophilus parryii ) hibernates quite early, usually in August or September every year. In about 270 days, they only rested and reduced their metabolic system activity by 90%.

Usually in mid-March, the squirrel will wake up but still stay in the ground until the reserve of prepared food is gone. By the middle of April, they had just started to land on the ground, still covered with snow.

The interesting thing about this squirrel is that the male before hibernation often actively reduces his testicles, and temporarily stops the production of testosterone.

Therefore, when spring comes, the body returns to normal, male squirrels are like going through a period of "puberty" again. They have a need to find partners immediately, and many males are reluctant to fight with each other to the point of losing their lives.

Meanwhile, females often go to the ground after only 1 day of waking up because there is no habit of storing food like males. In theory, female squirrels can become pregnant only 2 days after hibernation.

Professor Loren Buck of Northern Arizona University (USA) - who specializes in ground squirrel research - said that about 25 days after hibernation, female squirrels will give birth, usually producing 5-8 cows.

"Take care of your baby in the summer, and when winter comes, start a new process again" - Loren Buck said.

"Association" of mothers with children

A sleeping bat on the bark - (Photo: GETTY IMAGES).

Another animal that catches its birth season after hibernation is a bat. According to Associate Professor Joy M. O'Keefe - bat expert at Indiana University (USA) - female bats in the North often find big trees or other caves suitable for childbirth.

Typically, a mother bat group, about 10-12 children, gathers the same point to give birth. In 50-60 days after giving birth, mothers often help each other to take care of their children and take turns to do feeding tasks for the group.

At this time, male bats have a little extra time to rest because they are not in charge of babysitting, and then actually "wake up" after hibernation.

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