NATURE
TIME FOR
BED We can all agree that 2020 has not got to plan. And it isn’t over yet, with the colder months just around the corner. Little wonder many animals are this month choosing to give the rest of 2020 a miss and sleep through the winter… sounds like a good plan to us! Words: Rob Davis.
AS THE NIGHTS DRAW IN and temperatures drop, this is the month I’ll be curling up in front of a log fire with a mug of Horlicks and a decent book. I’m not the only one, either. November is the month that a number of our native species enter hibernation or torpor… and incidentally, there’s a difference between the two. In a state of hibernation, animals like hedgehogs enter a state of inactivity, slowing their heart rate and breathing, lowering both their body temperature and their overall metabolism to preserve their energy reserves. Of course they do wake up periodically to search out food or to toilet, and will also awaken if their bodies detect that the temperature has dropped to such an extent that they are in danger of freezing to death… their bodies will prevent ice crystals forming in their blood. Only hedgehogs, dormice and bats truly enter a state of hibernation. Rabbits, shrew and mice, meanwhile, enter a state of torpor, which is a more temporary state and one which appears an involuntary state dictated by hormonal changes and an animal’s response to shorter periods of daylight. In a state of torpor, an animal’s metabolism slows to around 5% of its normal rate. Helping Out the ‘Hogs The area’s rural hedgehog population has halved since 2000 according to figures by the British Hedgehog Preservation Society. Creating a hibernaculum in your garden can help, but at least check piles of leaves and bonfires before setting light to them to prevent scorching a poor hedgehog’s bottom. Providing food – dog food or cat food, not bread and milk – for around October will help hedgehogs to build up their fat reserves prior to hibernation which usually begins in November and lasts until mid-March. >> 96
