Ever thought about how animals weather the frosty winter months? In this BUSTING BACK Parent Busters episode we're covering how animals prepare for winter in sometimes super weird ways.
We're taking a deep - and chilly - dive into the world of animal hibernation.
Join us on this fascinating journey as we unravel how creatures from polar bears to penguins, and even some unexpected critters like iguanas and snakes, adapt and survive during the harsh winter season.
Prepare for some winter word salad as we talk about unique techniques from hibernation to estivation and brumation.
If you've enjoyed our journey through the frosty world of hibernation and the captivating survival strategies of our furry and feathered friends, we'd be thrilled to hear your thoughts.
Grab your free Buster Deduction sheet for kids!
Check out how your can support our LISTEN FOR CAUSE to help us give back to others!
*All resources and references used in researching this podcast episode are found on the corresponding episode post on ParentBusters.com.
Ever thought about how animals weather the frosty winter months? In this BUSTING BACK Parent Busters episode we're covering how animals prepare for winter in sometimes super weird ways.
We're taking a deep - and chilly - dive into the world of animal hibernation.
Join us on this fascinating journey as we unravel how creatures from polar bears to penguins, and even some unexpected critters like iguanas and snakes, adapt and survive during the harsh winter season.
Prepare for some winter word salad as we talk about unique techniques from hibernation to estivation and brumation.
If you've enjoyed our journey through the frosty world of hibernation and the captivating survival strategies of our furry and feathered friends, we'd be thrilled to hear your thoughts.
Grab your free Buster Deduction sheet for kids!
Check out how your can support our LISTEN FOR CAUSE to help us give back to others!
*All resources and references used in researching this podcast episode are found on the corresponding episode post on ParentBusters.com.
Hey, ella, oh no. Yeah, we're gonna flake it till we make it on this one, because we're talking about weird ways animals prepare for snow and winter hibernation. I was so confused what you meant by flake it, get it, flake it, I get it, oh, no, okay. Hey, welcome to Parrot Busters. There's a fun, fun question. Fun Fun, a fun podcast when parents and kids can learn together. In case you didn't know, I am Jackie and I have a daughter, but she's not here, so I have this kid, ella. Hi, I'm definitely her daughter.
Speaker 1:She likes to lie and we're going to talk about weird ways that animals prepare for winter. Yeah, you want to. Yeah, I mean, we did the research and it's pretty cool, so I think we should. Hey, uh, why do polar bears live alone? Oh no, why, oh no, they like to isolate themselves. Let's get to it. Wait, hold on, I have one. Oh no, oh no. Why don't penguins and polar bears get along? Why, because they're polar opposites. Let's just make that up. Yes, and it's scientific. Let's go ahead and get to our two truths and the lie. You want to? Yeah, let's do that. Okay, please hold for a very important message. Number one To prepare for winter, squirrels steal other squirrels, nuts. That's rude how rude, I know. Number two Dormice can hibernate for almost 12 months no way. Number three A hiding place for animals hibernate is called a hiberhouse. Say what, can that be the truth? We'll find out. Listen throughout the podcast, you'll get the answers. Or, if you're just too lazy, listen till the end. Yeah, we'll give you the answers Exactly.
Speaker 1:Hey, I thought that I would do a little brief intro about hibernation. I mean, that makes sense. We're talking about weird ways animals prepare for winter and hibernation is such a big part of that. So hibernation is a way that animals and also Ella deals with the winter months You're saying I hibernate. I feel like we all hibernate a little right, especially if you live in a cold climate, like we live in a seasonal change state where we get four definite seasonal changes and I do feel like we hibernate. Yeah, my hibernation includes staying in bed, playing Animal Crossing Animal Crossing where it's also winter, yes, and there are bears and other animals that hibernate. I think the snuggle is real. Oh, that's good. Thank you, it's so good. All right, okay, I'm back.
Speaker 1:So they're endothermic, which means warm-blooded animals hibernate and different animals hibernate in different ways, but it basically involves like loading up on a bunch of food and finding a safe place to sleep, or, quote unquote sleep, that sounds great, snuggle now you already do that. I mean, you're like, no, it doesn't just sound great, it is great, it's moving on. They write out the winter and it's because animals do this, because the temperatures often become too harsh and the with the snow and the cold, that food can be hard to find. Yeah, so did you know that when animals quote unquote sleep in hibernation, they're not really sleeping? Say what. What they do is for some of the animals that hibernate this way, where it looks like they go into a sleep I think we always think about bears, right? Yeah, they're always so snuggly. Yeah, what they really do it's not necessarily sleeping is they decrease their breathing and heart rates to kind of match the environment, and it stays that way until spring. Wow, and what they're doing is they drop their body temperature to almost match the outside temperature. Oh, and it's called. It has a word, the name for this is called Torpor. Yes, we've actually talked about this before on our bats episode. Oh, that was a great episode. And if you didn't know, some bats do hibernate, yes, so go check it out, you'll learn some about bats and their hibernation.
Speaker 1:So how do they survive during this time? I mean, do you know one way? And again, I think we think about bears when they feed off of their stored up fat. Yes, they eat a bunch of food and then they chill, literally. Yes, and they, they're doing almost zero activity, so it doesn't when your body works, when any our our body, animals, bodies, you're burning up calories. Yeah, they're doing almost nothing, so they're only burning up what's stored in them and that's enough for them to live off of.
Speaker 1:Not all bears hibernate. Oh really, say what? They store up lots of food and then, on warmer winter days, they wake up and they have a picnic, they eat some of their snacks. Okay, that's really cute. Do you know that?
Speaker 1:The hiding place where the animals hibernate? Do you know what it's called? What? So they can hibernate animal? Different animals, again, hibernate in different ways and we're going to talk about some of that. But some of the animals can, like, hibernate in a cave, a hollow tree, like a burrow underground, a nest, a rock crevice, some mud even. Yeah, and do you know what? Those? All of those hiding places have a general name and you know what it is Wait, what Is it cute? It's not hyperhouse, oh, which I feel like it should be. It really should. It's called a hibernaculum.
Speaker 1:A hibernaculum, a hibernaculum Whoa, that's a cool word, hibernaculum. Hey, so little dormis also hibernate. And guess what? They can lose half of their body weight during hibernation because they're so tiny, so they really load up beforehand. I mean, I'm talking like full on little door mouse buffet for like six months. I don't know. Little tennis ball with door mouse, they can hibernate for up to 11, for 11 months. Wow, are you sure Handover? How it's like. Oh, finally Winners. Oh, it's winner again. Well, time to go back to bed. So when they come out, they eat for an entire month and then they just go back. It sounds like an amazing. I mean, yeah, the French word dormir means to sleep, and then dormouse, yeah, dormir, dorm, oh, that's so cool. How come? Well, let's talk about this.
Speaker 1:So there we talked about how endothermic warm-blooded animals hibernate. Yeah, can cold-blooded animals hibernate? Yes, they can. Also, there are a couple of different processes. There's a hibernation, something that's like a hibernation process. It's called estivation, and that's where reptiles find places in the summer to get solace from the heat. So, for example, like African hedgehogs and crocodiles. Wait, really, both estimate Wow. So that's when they find a cool, safe spot and they become inactive, and it's usually a shorter period of time than what we think of as the winter hibernation. Yeah, but in some areas, like think about in Africa it gets so hot that they can't handle that heat, so they go into estivation. Wow, there's also something called brumation. So we've had hibernation, we have estivation. What endothermic or warm-blooded animals do? We have estivation, which is that hibernation-like process that some various different types of animals do. So we just go into to alleviate the heat. Now we have brumation, and guess what? That is what it is when your body heat is controlled by the environment. Huh, oh, cold-blooded.
Speaker 1:Yes, think about cold-blooded, like reptiles, who are also ectothermic animals. So ectothermic animals depend on outside sources. Oh, they're white, or like. Think about when you see a lizard heating themselves on a rock. Yeah, they're just sitting there and their eyes are closed and smiling and they're so happy. I feel that when I'm at the beach, maybe they're ectothermic. This makes a lot of sense. Ectotherms include fish. I just want you to know that I wrote fishes in my note. Fishies, amphibians, reptiles, invertebrates, who are animals that don't have a backbone and those are like the spiders, butterflies, worms. Those are all ectothermic animals.
Speaker 1:Wow, reptiles like snakes and lizards will find an unused burrow and they'll settle in to wait out the cold Because they're cold-blooded, they're like yo, how did I get here instead of Florida? I don't want to know. Speaking of Florida, wait what? Speaking of Florida? Oh no, do you know what happens? No, not this Uh-oh, because the iguanas are ectothermic, which means the outside environment controls their body temperature.
Speaker 1:Right, there are things called that. They call the cold-stunned iguanas. Oh no, in South Florida. And iguanas are cold-blooded so that when temperatures drop, these iguanas become what they call cold-stunned and they will actually fall out of the trees and it looks like they're dead, but they're not. They go into like the suspended mode. And if they're hanging out in the trees when this cold comes because in South Florida usually most of the time does it have a cold climate, but when this happens on the times it does happen that you get these cold-stunned iguanas it's raining iguanas, how about you? So add hibernation, estivation and rumation to your vocabulary list and you can study more about that.
Speaker 1:And, speaking of reptiles, something I thought was ridiculously cute that my dad's gonna hate Because it has something to do with snakes. During the winter, snakes will curl up with one another to share body heat in a cluster to survive the winter. And they do this even though they are solitary animals. They just collectively decide hey, we're gonna pile on each other and survive this, as someone who has seen a pile of snakes and then had them chase after us. It's not cute, it wasn't cute. But sleepy snakes, sleepy snakes. And then I have another fact that's kind of sad. Oh, you're gonna bring it down, ma'am. Sorry, I'll bring it back up, I promise, because reptiles are cold-blooded and they need heat to help them absorb energy from their food, known as metabolism.
Speaker 1:Is that right? I always call it metabolism, I will be honest, and I read it as metabolism, metabolism, which is known as metabolism. Maybe English isn't your first language. Have we ever considered that, I mean? But if reptiles eat right before they go underground to wait out the cold, the food can actually rot in their stomachs, ew, which you can guess is rarely not good for them. But I thought that was very interesting as the word for it.
Speaker 1:I think hey, why don't humans hibernate? Huh, why don't humans hibernate? Well, I mean besides Ella, I mean besides me and every other teenager. Why don't humans besides teenagers Well, I don't Other humans hibernate? It's because we've invented systems to produce our food in the cold and store them in the cold, so our body doesn't have a need to go basically quote unquote underground in the winter, because we still know how to get food, yeah, and we also have processes to keep us warm, right, and then also, some scientists say it has to do with our size, like we don't need that same. Huh, huh, wow, but then bears are big. So, huh, what do you have as hibernation, ella?
Speaker 1:Well, I do have something relating to bears. Okay, have you heard of the fat bear contest? Say what? No, this is a real thing. Wait, bear body shaming? Oh, no, no, it is bear body positivity all the way. Okay, let's hear it, I'll be the judge of this.
Speaker 1:So this is a contest that was started in 2014 by Katmai National Park in Alaska, and it has the park rangers of this national park post pictures of the fattest bears ready for hibernation. They see around Brooks Falls, a popular place for bears to fish in the park. Oh, wow, I'll look up the link and link it over on Paramesterscom. Yes, I feel like I have the website in my references, in the episode post, and then they post them online and ask people from all over the world to have to vote on who they think is the best well equipped bear. And then what happens? It's just like I don't even know what they do. Does the, do the park rangers, win something? I don't even know. Honestly, I think it's just a fun thing.
Speaker 1:Do they, the bears, get an extra fish if they went? I mean, that would be cute. Do they get like a sash in a crown Can? Can they please? And something kind of related to that. There's an official fat bear week. Wow, it has passed, sadly. Oh, it is somewhere early in October. Oh, wow, I know, but that makes sense because they're preparing for winter, so they would Okay, yeah, so it's before, so that's when they would see them.
Speaker 1:And there's another thing relating to, I guess, alaskan bears Very niche, but you know, the Alaskan Island, admiralty Island, has more bears than people, oh, and that doesn't have anything to do with preparing for winter. That's interesting, though, and the Tlingit people call the island Hootsnu, which translate to fortress of the bear. Oh, yeah, I guess. So, yeah, going. So I used to be a bigger population of people than bears. But oh no, oh no, no, I said I was going to bring the topic back up and you brought it right back down. I'm totally kidding about that. I have no idea, but it is suspicious. It is quite suspicious, isn't it? And it's called the fortress of the bear. What is it a fortress of?
Speaker 1:Oh no, okay, moving on, let's keep the mammal section going and then go over to moles. Moles are the little like lads that dig underground. They usually have like the pink little snouts, little lads, little lads and they tunnel underground. And moles actually don't hibernate, but they do tunnel deeper underground for winter to get below the frost line. Do they stay there the whole time or do they come in and out? It sounded like they stay in their tunnels, because they have a bunch of tunnels and but they do have trouble finding food for winter because they eat insects. So they have a area in their tunnels called a pantry that they store food in. What? And it's not just like dead bugs either, it is living bugs, and this is how they do it. They believe that moles have a toxin in their saliva that allows them to paralyze worms and keep them in the pantry for winter. Wow, you would not expect that from looking at them, not from those little lads, not the little lads. Eww, gross, wow, wow.
Speaker 1:Next, I have some things about squirrels. Kind of like bears. They are staple of getting ready for winter you always think of like squirrels are running around bearing nuts to prepare for winter. Right, right, yes. So some squirrels, like ground squirrels, dig underground tunnels to stay warm during the winter, kind of like moles. And tree squirrels and you've probably seen these in trees make nests, also called drays. Did you know that squirrels prepare for winter but they don't hibernate, really, do you know why? Why, because they can't build up enough body fat to quote unquote, hibernate, so they have to store up all that food. That's why, you see, should we tell everyone about Squirtly? Yes, welcome back to Storytime.
Speaker 1:So we have a family of squirrelies, of the same squirrels that stay in our backyard. We know it's the same squirrel because they're tiny, they're all tiny. They're smaller than the rest of the squirrels. Squirtly was the first that we acknowledged. So we acknowledged Squirtly because he was super funny and he just well, we named him Squirtly because he was small but he's super funny, so he always got our attention. And then we know that Squirtly has a family because they're keeping and they're not chipmunks, because we have those also. They're very clearly squirrels. They're squirrels. They're just smaller. They're like almost half the size. They're mini squirrels. They're mini squirrels and we know he keeps having family because we keep seeing the tiny squirrels.
Speaker 1:And was it? Was it Squirtly's first child? That was really not smart. No, squeakly, we named her Squeakly's child. This is what we do at our house. By the way, in case you're wondering, this is kept the same during 2020. In case you're wondering, if homeschoolers are weird, they are. This is why so Squirtly we're pretty certain is actually a mama. We're not sure. Yeah, but we saw Squirtly. We thought it was rude to ask. It seems rude, but Squeakly is so.
Speaker 1:Squirtly had Squeakly, a small little squirrel, also tiny like his parent, and Squeakly thought he was something all right. Oh, no, he would take. He was very confident, very confident and proud of himself. So proud that he would hide his nuts on our table out back porch or in the chair, right in plain sight, in plain sight, and then we'd see him happily hop up and eat it and like, wow, I did so good and I remembered where it was and everything. We were like, oh, thank goodness he has family members to help him, so at least for solids. First six months of Squeakley's life, we were like, don't move the nuts, squeakley, put it there. We don't want to ruin it for them. No, we just pretended like he did a good job. We gave him a couple of awards. He's fine.
Speaker 1:Yeah, did you know that? So during the summer. So since they can't squirrels can't build up enough body fat during the summer, they stash all this food in different locations. Yeah, if you have ever watched squirrels, or you have a bunch of them in your backyard, like we do, we always know when bad weather is coming, because they get frantic. They like aggressively dig them and put them down or re dig them, find them. They get aggressive. So every time we're like, oh, there must be a snow storm coming, because we can tell by the way they change their behavior and they um, oh.
Speaker 1:It's also important to note the behavior of like hiding your food for the winter is called cashing. I thought I would note that Good vocabulary word for today, thank you. And it's a list. So they don't hibernate, but they do sleep for up to 20 hours a day.
Speaker 1:So once again, teenagers, squirrels very similar. Yeah, this makes a lot of sense. The anxiety, the sleep. They head out in the early morning or the late afternoon to snack on their hordes during the winter, but then they go back to sleep. Yeah, and it's kind of crazy. They can't build up enough body weight. It's because they're crazy frantic all the time. I mean, they are very energetic, but a squirrel can actually with energetic, we'll go with energetic. A squirrel can actually eat their body weight and food in one week. Say what? So how they like teenagers. Listen here. I'm seeing a lot of parallels in this episode. Yeah, make a list.
Speaker 1:Um, hey, do you know this is something we make, a Venn diagram. Hey, I don't expect that next week from your. I can do it, I might do. If I do it, well, post it. Yes, um, did you know? We talk about this a lot, how they know? Yeah, so we watch them bury all over our yard and then we watch them come back randomly, it seems like, and be like yeah, this is where I buried number 3722. Do you know how that happens? Well, I do know that they actually forget where 74% of the nuts are. They do forget, um, and oh no, which is honestly good, because the nuts they're usually seeds help with reforestation. Wow, look at that. Which circle of life, man Dang.
Speaker 1:They find the nuts that they hid, which they hide all over, using a combination of three things you ready, okay, memory, okay, smell, oh yes, and random chance. Say what. So they don't. That's me trying to find stuff. There are so many correlations. Yes, venn diagram is coming, it is forthcoming. Yep, trust me on that.
Speaker 1:Um, I feel like in kids books especially, we squirrels are always depicted in a den full of nuts for the winter. Yes, they don't store nuts in their dens. No, they're all, they're all. Do you know why? Uh, nope, why? Because if they stored nuts in there where they sleep, that aroma is going to attract predators. So they're not. They don't store their food. It's kind of the same. And other squirrels, it's kind of the same as camping. And they tell you don't store your food in your tent.
Speaker 1:Yes, right, so they pick a landmark. So, for example, they might pick a tree as a landmark. And then, no, I'm going to marry a bunch of my nuts around here. I planted three nuts over there. I mean, that might not be, they might not be like okay, all right, kids sit down we're going to talk about. So we have 25 nuts and three landmarks. If we divide that, how many nuts will be at each landmark? So they use landmarks, which I found fascinating. That is, it makes a lot of sense. But also like, wow, Squeakley's landmark was just our table right on top. It's genius, little lad.
Speaker 1:They can also use their sense of smell, even through the snow. They can smell the nuts with the teeth. And then guess what? The last way they use random guessing. Yeah, yeah, I'd like to, let's see. Yeah, I like this hiding place here last year. Why do you look part of the mafia Squirrel mafia, squafia?
Speaker 1:So, as we kind of mentioned, they can't hide all their nuts in their treat in their home because, well, one predators will find them but two other squirrels will find them. And, interestingly enough, about 25% of squirrels buried nuts end up being stolen by other squirrels. Oh, I would be so mad. Yeah, so this makes squirrels super duper paranoid, which also explains why they're always like what? What Exactly? Oh, should we tell them how? Not Squirtley and not Squirtley's bloodline, but some one of our other squirrels has an emotional support. Huh, later, hold on, okay, let me finish my fact. Okay, and then emotional support tree.
Speaker 1:So they're paranoid, and to protect their buried nuts from other squirrels, they will actually sometimes make fake caches, fake holes, like they will dig and then bury it back and it's nothing. Wow, I've seen our squirrels doing that because they didn't even said to you. He didn't even bury anything, he just dug and then padded it back. So what was he doing? They are making fake caches. I had no idea. Or they will hide them in hard to reach places under piles of, under piles of leaves, under bark, in the mud, wow, wow, under our porch, under the porch, on a table. Okay, I have one more squirrel fun fact.
Speaker 1:And then we tell the emotional support tree story. Okay, and this has nothing to do with hibernation or caffeine, no, but we're talking about squirrels In our house. Squirrels are fascinating, they're beautiful. Unfortunately, you have to hear about it from us. You're welcome, everyone, yay. So squirrel fun fact a squirrel twitches its tail to tell a predator that it sees it. Oh, it's the same thing as me, exactly, oh, no, visual. A little moody wiggle. Okay, a little moody wiggle, yeah. So now we shall talk about emotional support tree.
Speaker 1:We were sitting out on our back porch one day last summer, I think last summer, when the weather's nice, we sit out there and we play games and stuff a lot. We even do homeschool out there, because we spend a lot of time out there. That just Adv束 we look over, it's a super hot day. I mean like we're like dying outside. We had a fan on the back porch, like the covered back porch, yeah. So the sun there's no clouds it is beaming down. It is so hot. And we have this tree right near our porch that has like a tire swing on it and such Right.
Speaker 1:And we look over and we see a squirrel no, no, no Lying down on the branch and hugging it. Say what? Just like flat? And we were like, is he okay? And then we saw him move his head to get more comfortable. And then Ella said, oh, look, he has an emotional support tree, yeah. And then we just started going like he was saying, oh, tree, I love you Tree, you're the best tree. Tree, oh, you're the only thing that helps me. And then we saw him do that multiple times throughout the summer. Yeah, and then he would come back to be like on his side, like sleeping. He would come back to that same spot, though, and I've never seen a floor of squirrel flatten out and like hug, it's like a meerkat, we have their like flu. Yes, we will put a picture You'll have to send me. I'll send you the emotional support. Emotional support. So the world.
Speaker 1:Did we name him Josiah? No, I don't remember what. I'm sure we named him, though it was something probably with a J Our default names are always with a J and I don't know why and I'll post him on our social media and on it. He wasn't hibernating because of a summer, but he was maybe estimating it was very cute and he was having a hard day. He like climbed up and I just watched him floop, yeah, and then he did it. We saw him multiple times throughout the summer. It was so cute at the same time. Hey, how do mountains stay warm? How they put on their snow caps? Okay, well, let's move on from that.
Speaker 1:Turds no, I have bugs. I'm sorry, but this is really interesting. All right, I'll be the judge of that. I mean, there's all. I love animals. So when we do episodes like this, I'm like, oh, and there's more, I'm a squirrel gathering all the nuts, until you can lapse on your emotional support. Exactly, that's accurate. And the mind is like okay, so what do you have? And I'm like I have three hours worth of content and I'm like can we cut that down to like 20 minutes? No, so you can thank me, for if this is a long episode, you're welcome. So let's talk about bugs.
Speaker 1:Ladybugs, we all know them. They're cute. They're little lads. Are bugs cute? I think so. Okay, I mean, if you don't look at them too close, okay, never look at their faces, never look into their eyes, and it's the bugs with like a thousand eyes. None of them. Look into none of them. I know it's tempting. Anyway, go ahead.
Speaker 1:Bugs and hibernation yeah, 5,000 different species of ladybugs actually bulk up on food before winter. Wow, how does a ladybug bulk up? I don't know, because there's so little. Does their shell allow for bulking up? There's so many questions, I know. And are they just in the gym like, yeah, put more weight on, I can do it. Type of bulk up bulk up in food like a bear. And so, instead of ladybugs or lady bears, okay, wow, that was really bad.
Speaker 1:So once they're full, ladybugs group together in the cracks of rocks or sometimes the sides of buildings to stay warm. So there's just piles of ladybugs. I've seen that before. That's what they're doing. They're waiting out the winter, I wondered. And actually, predators don't Actually I think I thought that they were not alive oh gosh, yeah, well, I mean, it's like the lizards, yeah, um, and predators actually don't typically bother these large, huge bugs, like piles and piles of ladybugs, which you think.
Speaker 1:It's like, oh, you're in the middle of a winter and you're an animal who eats bugs and you're like, oh, there's bugs. No, because they have warning colors. And what's the warning? Say it's like don't eat me. Red is like hey, I might be toxic, oh, yeah, and they have that neon sign on their back that says, hey, I might be toxic, but that's a different yeah, but bright colors usually indicate something is right. Um, and they will, if an animal actually does try to eat them, which happens sometimes because they can't take a hint. Um, and they're hungry because they can't find anything else.
Speaker 1:Yeah, ladybugs do a thing called reflex fleeting, huh, um, where they bleed out of their knees. What Are you crazy? This smelly blood. That tastes really gross. I've had that happen when holding a ladybug before. Huh, I thought they were just going to the bathroom. I, you know what that makes sense, because I've always thought they peed on you when you held them because I've had them like stick to my hand, but now we know they're just bleeding from their knees. Oh yeah, my favorite hobby, say what. I can't relate to squirrels in that way. Um, there's a joke here somewhere. Only my humor finds this funny.
Speaker 1:You think, um, and then next up we have honey ants. Huh, what are honey ants? A type of ant, honey, honey. I've never heard of honey ants.
Speaker 1:So in order to have food for the winter, during fall, honey ants actually forage and collect something called honeydew. Now do you have any guesses of what honeydew is? Uh, no, honeydew is a melon. No, it's not that it is a flower. No, it is the spit of our ancestors. Closer, honestly. Um, honeydew is a liquid excreted by insects like aphids after eating plant sap. Ew, gross why they would name it honeydew, I don't know. Interesting, so I'm guessing that's where they get the name honey ants from is because they eat honeydew, I guess.
Speaker 1:So they take the honeydew back to their colony and feed it to a type of worker ant called repletes, then, after eating a bunch— Did you just happen to read a science fiction book that was about this? And then you were like I'm going to make this a secret. No, I saw pictures. It's interesting. Um, the—after eating a bunch of this honeydew, the repletes ab—abdomens—the repletes abdomens get larger. Um, please look up a picture of this because it is very surreal.
Speaker 1:Well, I can link to a picture over on Paramessorscom for this episode notes yes, so it starts to grow and then they stand on the ceiling of the hive and it turns them basically into a living storage container. Say what, are they still alive? Yes, fail. Um, that's why they're called a living storage container. Um, I'm sorry you left it so open. I did, but my brain, for a second like went straight to the storage container and I was like well, they're not like opening their abdomens and being like here, let's scoop the honey, do out. Um, no, they, when other ants are the other ants are low on food they're like hey, throw up the honey, do give it up, man, we know you got the honey. Doing that, they nudge, they urge them right into my mouth right here, gross, and they urge it to regurgitate the honey do. That happens with a lot of animals. I know that's your real life horror story. For you. That's bizarre and fascinating at the same time. Right, we'll definitely link pictures, because it is maybe not as a vomiting, but no, no, they didn't show pictures of the vomiting part, and I hope, which is probably the part you want to see. I know you, I know all of you.
Speaker 1:Okay, now let's move on to yes. Why don't you go ahead? What kind of math do snowy owls like? I'm pretty sure I saw this beforehand, so I won't answer. Go ahead, is it algebra? Stop looking at my notes. I was carrying them to your, to you. You've been waiting. No, I don't, I want. Ok, I can go first. You want to go last? You can't? Yeah, ok, because mine is. Oh, but I like bird hibernation, bird bird, bird, bird birdination, birdination, I do, Anyway. So first I'll thank for ruining my aljoka. I just want to welcome I'm writing a note to myself right now Add more work to Ella's homeschool.
Speaker 1:We want one. No, wow, no. Are you more bitter than a ladybugs bleeding on its knees, maybe, or a living ant storage container? They can't be happy about it. Oh, no, well, I mean they, it's the hive mind kind of thing. I don't think they really think about it. You know which is well. Have you interviewed them? No one knows, no one's. No one's asked them. Ok, so let's ask what the repletes do, but they never ask how they, how they do.
Speaker 1:Let's talk about some bird hibernation Birds. Ok. So first up, let's talk about the common poor will. So the common poor will of North America and Mexico is the only known species of bird to go into hibernation instead of going to a warm place for winter. Wow, wow, I know there's actually a bird that hibernate. So the common poor will is the only known species of bird to go into hibernation. So they build up a bunch of body fat. Then they hunker down on the ground where their brown bark like feathers help them blend into the surrounding. Well, let's just talk about that for a second. Oh no, hunkering down on the ground doesn't seem like a great idea. No, but they let their. So it seems like.
Speaker 1:Also, when I was researching. They don't live in super duper cold climates. They live in like Western America and Mexico, so they hibernate, like when it's medium cold, I guess. Ok, so there's probably not snow on top of them. That's what I was imagining, yeah, for a baby. So they hunker on the ground and their feathers help them camouflage. So it's great for them. And they let their body temperature drop to around 40 degrees Fahrenheit, around 4.4 degrees Celsius, and then go into their state of four bar and they can actually they hibernate for around five days at a time. Huh, like, how cute. I don't like teenagers. Ok, I'll stop.
Speaker 1:Mother, every time we talk about like squirrels, it's going to come up. Yes, yeah, ok, I'm fine with that, even if you're not. Yeah, next I have chickadees, and chickadees use the same Chickadee. Chickadees use the same system as squirrels do caching to hide their food. And they hide their food underneath tree bark, clusters of leaves, in the ground or even under roof shingles or in gutters, oh, basically, wherever they can get them. And you would guess, like squirrels, with so many places, they forget where their food is. Right, you think, yeah, there's so many places. No, no, they don't at all. Oh, no, that's crazy to me, the reason being they have a GPS system better and it gets even more sci-fi than the honey ants. Oh, no, during, how you'll see, you'll all, please One of you amazing children, write a sci-fi book about the honey ants, because I think great, yeah, um, it's just waiting for someone to write about it. Seriously, so right when they need all the food that they stored up to bulk up for winter chickadees.
Speaker 1:Brains grow. What Are you crazy? They evolve to get rid of the older brain cells and replace them with new ones, adding more space for remembering where all the food is. Come on, so their brains grow and they're able to remember where they put all the stuff. And then in spring, their brain shrinks back down to their normal size because they don't need that amount of memory anymore, kind of like teens, exactly In the summer. Yes, so their brains physically grow and shrink. Wow, that internal GPS system that animals have is always fascinating to me. That might be a parent busters episode. What it could be. Oh only we might be interested. But oh no, what's new? We can talk more about squirrels, Yay.
Speaker 1:What about woodpeckers? Oh, I wanted to do woodpeckers One. We have woodpeckers around here, yes, and they think they like to. Several different kinds of woodpeckers Eat on our house and I always thought that woodpeckers hibernated.
Speaker 1:So I was like I want to do woodpeckers. And you were like with this look, you were just like, yeah, go ahead. Yeah, yes, honey, go ahead. Yeah. And I know why now. Because, guess what, they don't hibernate. They don't hibernate Because the common poor will is the only known bird that hibernate. So she was like, yeah, you go ahead and take woodpeckers, I think that's a good idea. And I was like, okay, oh, guess what? Woodpeckers don't hibernate. And you were like, yeah, poor baby, so I'm sorry to crush your face. So what are they doing with all those holes? I thought, besides finding food, I also thought that they were creating holes to put food in for hibernation. But that's not really it. So when woodpeckers are packing because they really do pack, yes they're either looking to find food, excavate that area so they can nest, so they're that making it out so they can go in there to nest, or, guess what? What they do it to mark their territory. I had no idea. Wow, so they don't really hibernate.
Speaker 1:Some species stay year round in the region where they nest, yeah, and some of them migrate south in the winter. But those that do stay where they are, like in the colder climates or the colder months, they prepare in the fall and what they're doing when, most likely when they're chiseling on the tree in the fall, they're chiseling out their roosting cavities and that's where they'll go, stay in, like the snug area during cold nights of fall and winter. So they don't really hibernate. They come in and out. So what they're doing is they're not necessarily storing all those acorns you see in the pictures. Say what you know. The acorns fit perfectly into the little pose. They're not necessarily doing that. What they're doing is they're hollowing out their cavities most likely, if you're seeing them doing it a lot in the fall so that they have a snug nesting place or roosting place. I do want to know what's going on with the acorns then. Yeah, one of the things I thought was really interesting they roost in those cavities by themselves. Oh, so even if they have young woodpeckers, once they're fledged or ready to go, they're like see, yeah, and they kick them out. They have to go find their own, make their own cavity.
Speaker 1:In the winter, the woodpeckers eat seeds and nuts because those are the most abundant foods that are around. Yeah, they'll also eat some leftover fruit that remains on like bushes or trees. Oh yeah, some woodpeckers store corn kernels, pine seeds and grasshoppers and corn kernels, yeah, grass, oh, like the moles, yeah, for the winter here's fun facts they're not really hibernate, but they do. They do like to chill out. Yeah, they prepare.
Speaker 1:So have you ever noticed on a woodpecker's beak they have nostrils, say really, they have these modified feathers that they that are called bristles bristles, and they extend over the top of the nostrils so that when they're pecking it doesn't get in their nose. Oh, they don't inhale. And which is? Which are the modified? Wow, I think that you this doesn't have anything to do with hibernation, but as to do with woodpeckers, you should tell people about woodpecker tongues. Okay, I was waiting. I was like, should we talk about woodpecker? Yes, just quickly talk about that.
Speaker 1:Woodpecker's tongues are so long that they wrap around their brains. They're up around their skull, say what like around, they go, they recede into their mouth and almost like, curl up, going around their skull. I think it did it several times like what's around? Several times. It's so long that it goes around their head. Now, think about that. Hey, do you have anything else? I don't. I'm just gonna have an existential about woodpecker tongues over here. Yes, uh, we'll link to a picture of that also, because, yeah, you should definitely say the picture. It's interesting, that's cool. But you know that in North America, species of wood frog can survive being frozen and hawed a few times. It's because of that substance in their blood. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, I've heard of that.
Speaker 1:Uh, snails. These are just some fun facts that are random that I wrote down. Snails, in the winter, go into like a hibernation, where they attach themselves to a surface, and guess what they do? They cover themselves with their own slime that protects them. Oh, Turtles may stop breathing all together when they're hibernating. They're not dead. That's just how they hibernate, turtle.
Speaker 1:Hey, let's do our two truths and lie. You want to. That's a good idea. I'll say them and then you tell me if they're true or a lot true, a truth or lie. Squirrels steal other squirrels nuts in preparation for winter. That's true. True and rude, rude, rude. Dormice can hibernate for almost 12 months. That's also true. They said up to up to 11 months, which means this last one Hiding place where animals hibernate is called a hiberhouse is false, because it's actually called a hibernaculum, which is really cool. That is cool. Hey, uh, go and hibernate. Yeah. And if this episode has taught you anything, that one, squirrels are a lot like teenagers and two, that Nature is a sci-fi movie and we're all just living in it. That's right.
Speaker 1:And if you enjoyed either one of those things, give us a five-star review, exactly, all right. Have a great day, guys. See ya, bye. Hey everyone, thanks for listening. We just want to take a minute to tell you that if you like what you're hearing, we'd really appreciate your five-star review wherever you're listening to this podcast. Seriously, and if you leave a review like a written review. Oh yeah, exactly, it lets other people know what you think of the podcast. And guess what? I love reading those. They're so fine. I know they really are and you may not know this, but it's actually a way that you can. It's a free way that you can help us reach other people. The more reviews of podcasts has, the more that they show it to other people. So it's just like a tiny way that you can guys, guys can help us and let's us know. Hey, you like what we're doing? Yeah, thanks a lot. We appreciate you.