The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-12-05
ONE OF NATURES WONDERS
uNE1PLAINED MYSTERIES OF THE
HIBERNATIN9 ANNALS.


hpruation In animals, fish and reptiles" said q
NAeuraiist who has made tho peculiar and little.
understood phases OF animal life his particular
Hstudy, is something that from It's very nature
and surroundings cannot DO investigated, and
consequently little 10 known as TO It's cause. or
a. to what physiological changes occur TO ami.
mals that hab itualy retro to concealed places
and lie dormant, or in a lethnrgic sleep, for
days, weeks and even months. 1t is known
that In tho perfect hibernators the processes OF
nature arc interrupted during the period Of this
long insensibility. Breathing is nearly, and
In sono hibernators entirely, suspended. and tho
temperature Of the blood, even In the warmer
FLOODED animals, falls so low that how life can
Vo maintained by 1t Is n mystery OF mysteries.
"A variety OF Rocky Mountain ground SPUR
rels- when in perfect Information. has a tempcra.
turo only three degrees above the freezing point
OF water, and when taken from their burrows in
that condition these squirrels aro as rigid rs II
they were not only dead, but frozen. But a few
minutes in a warm room will show that they
'aro not only alive. but full Of life. Thi, inter
esting fact In natural history was first demon
Htrhtod by tho late Andrew Fuller of Ridge.
wood, n. j.. to whom a friend in the west sent
AFFAIR OF those squirrels. Whom the weather be.
came cold. Mr.. Fuller missed his pots one day.
He supposed they had run away from his prem.
Ssos. Nearly a month later he found them by
uTICu up OenOutD u 1llc or straw In
"'ho corner of an inclosuro on his place. Thoy
were 30 cold and stifr that he supposed they
vorc frozen 10 dcath. He carried them into the
honse to show his wife the fate that had befallep
:he poor little rodents in the harsh Eastern eli.
Snate. While he and she were discussing the
snatter sorrowfully, the squirrels began to show
"lgns Of life, and shortly were frisking about the
:oom as il they had not been apparently frozen
ntiff for weeks. Mr.. Fuller then knew that the
a%1uirrels had boon In a state OF Information, and
IL VIVA such an extraordinary one that he put
;hem out OF doors again to let them resume that
rondittpn II they might, go he might investigate
81 turther. They had no sooner got into the cold
air 'hnn the lctharRic state began to assert It.
solf, and Mr. Fuller covered them with the
straw. A month later he took their temperature
aino found 1t 70 he a. l have stated only three
dcSrees above the freezing point of watcr.
Ayain they camo back to life and activity when
placed In the warm room. but after n Tow
iis1nst q Sho 9H.,I pisinly that they werS being
Ter turned them loosr to tind 1t again. They
found IL as before, and they remained in that
Tho spring. wien they came out as clipper us
:! they hadn't lost y day or u meal.
.As to tue suspension OF breathing in hibcr-
majors, the fact Is proved sufficiently in the In
stances OF the raccoon and tho wUodchuck.
When they h@.e laid Themselves away for
comfortably anu press thor noses in 81. CHI a Pc
Sniiar noiI,ion against their hinder parts that
10 draw, a breath. rho popular bacEwoois be-
lief, Is that the bear rolls Itself up in this way
c:asscd us u perfect hibornator by naturalists,
u broathcs While III - lethargy, as its blow
ioles ~ me npwproyoEho!o melted in the snow
self away. under u covering OF leaves, which
ho!es frequently be:ruy its presence to the
Tho marmot family produces the soundest
winter %sleepers. When the mnrmot is in It's
viii not rouse it,, The most noxious gases do
not Affect 1t in the slightest. II its tempera-
lbrea.hed in its natural state ii will die almost
lmnediately,; This Is on the authority OF the
Ito Prof. Peter A.. Browne. who at one time
investigated the subject of Information ana cs-
tivSti9n further than ANY other scientist
Tho hamstcr, q rodent common In northern
GSEn19ny. Is another animal that has its pc
mentions a harns;or that was put into a box
which was closed with earth and straw and
bbi sM where hfd I, the cod was intense but the
torpid. The box was then buried In the ground
and was dug up after some hours, when the
found lcthargy. And tfhis hanstcr was asG Kept e' in
a room whore there was no fire. The animal
up and came out. 1t was in he best OF health,
but died, in a few ACKNOWLEDGMENT Prof.
browne declared. 'becau-e it could not have
Our own familiar Wild animals. the bear.
the rarcoon and the woodchuck-the grounding
OF co!loquial nomenclature are classed as per.
feet hibcrnators because they store no food for
winter, but have acquired a thick. fatty secre-
lion between tho skin and flesh. which, it Is
supposed, supplies them with sustcnance. AS
a matter Of fact, although dormant animals
organe. The same fat absorption occurs when
ING ANNA! Is dead. II you XII q rabbit. or any
VIII disappear in a short time. Remove the en-
trails and the fat will remain. Food introduced
into the S'qnach Of a hihornating animal or
lie letbargy. say introduced into the stom.
Ach,' because it could get into tho stomach OF
Tor n ALTERNATING animal invariably goes into
is peculiar state on an empty stomach; Whyi
Of the "p pht n%%M; a""i Bu It tho 2aG most 90 ' mys nyIsSr'e of
all things connected with alternating animals
!, That, although bears ami woodchucks are pro.
iurlnS their winter sleep.
The woodchuck is Undoubtedly a perfect hi.
bear is frequently reused from his inter sleep,
ana IL found roaming about In m.dwintcr. A
pear hunt whom the snow Is deep and The cold
near is i i;Hy yS : male: haye talked WIN
IN the ways and haunts OF wild beasts, but mono
has ever been able 70 say ye; that no ever knew
lihernation has come. and none has ever yet
recn ~ gravid female bear. Where do tho 10.
disturbed in their r~etreatsi Nc one can say.
Lme raeSoGn Is often grcgarions in lis hiber.
NdtiIs,. ana III may he thtt Tor ina reason 1T
rot infrequcntly comes forth from its snug
quarters in tlr Follow tree and makes foraging
'rips, about the country--thc warmth engcu-
derei by tho budding colony arorsiny ono or
more OF It's members from their lethargy for the
time. Woodchucks hibernate in pairs, but ]
never kncH ore OF these proyerLially sleepy
creatures to leave its holo until warm weather
caine-in spite OF the alleged practice It has OF
coming out invariably on the second day of
February to fix the weather for the rest OF the
winter took the trouble once to dig into n
wo9dchuck's burrow. on a Candlemas Day
lnu n warm mr. Inv II us a 1llEg aInh a N
when the grounding is said to como out OF his
Eoie and stay out, l found two woodchucks
q the hurrow. with no moro sign of life about
them than II they had been shot and killed.
From al outward. appearances | could have
taken them ont and had n game OF football with
them without heir knowing IL.
squirrels arc. only partial hibernators. from
the fact tina. they work all summer and fall
storing great Quantities OF food to supply them
when hunger wakes then, up during the winter,
". indeed, they pend much OF their time In
sleep. squirrels are systematic and long
beaded providers for tho emergencies of q long
winter, and not oniy stow away their fayorite
food w one grand storohousc, but also make de-
IOSits of IL in other DlarpS an that ~ nna gran