2024-01-10 02:57:00
MINOT, N.D. (KMOT) – Some North Dakota animals go into deep sleep, but they might not be the ones you would expect.
Furbearer Biologist Stephanie Tucker says badgers, coyotes, weasels, muskrats and regarding eight other animals in the furbearers category, for the most part, are not hibernators.
She said some of them, such as raccoons and striped skunks, can slow their metabolism and respiration for the short term.
She said other species that aren’t furbearers hibernate for months, such as ground squirrels, woodchucks, salamanders and frogs, who she says let themselves freeze.
“Over 50% of the water in their body can freeze solid in the winter while they undergo this near-death state just to make it through the winter, and then when things warm up in the spring, they come back out,” said Tucker.
In case you were wondering why you’re not likely to come across these animals this time of year, now you know.
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