A fever that is too high, becomes dangerous to the individual. Your textbook also describes how aspirin helps to reduce fever. Turning Down the Set Point Animals can turn down their thermostat set points to save energy. Daily torpor and hibernation are examples of this type of change. Small endotherms utilize daily torpor to prevent exhaustion of food reserves.
Hibernation is used by many organisms that remain hypothermic for days or weeks or months.
Ground squirrels enter repeated bouts of hypothermia during the winter as illustrated in Figure 37.25 . The mammalian diving reflex is also seen in young drowning victims and is another example of reducing the set point to conserve energy.