Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1900-07-17
HleeRhA1iNo.
ANIMALS THAT SLEEP UNDER GRoUD
ALL WINTER.

bis particular study, "is something that
from its very nature and surroundings
cannot DO Investigated, and consequently
little Ia known - TO the cause, or - TO
what physiological changes occur to an
imsls that habltually retire to concealed
places and lie dormant, or In lethareic
sleep for days, weeks and even months.
aft IL known that 10 the perfect hiber-
majors the processes Of nature are Inter-
rupted during the period Of this long In
sensibllity. Breathing Is nearly, and In
some hiberuators entirely, suspended,
and the temperature Of the blood, even
In the warmer looded animals, falls so
low that how life can be maintained by
Il IL q mystery Of mysteries.
"A variety Of Rocky Mountain ground
squirrels, when In perfect Information,
has temperature only 3 degrees above
the freezing point OF water, and when
taken from their burrows In that condi-
ton these squirrels are a. rigid rs II they
were not only dead but frozen. But q
few minutes In warm room will show
that they are not only alive but full OF
life.
"As to the suspension Of breathing In
hibernators, the fact is proved sufficient.
ly In the instances OF the raccoon and
the woodchuck. When they have laid
themselves away for their winter sleep
they roll themselves up so comfortably
and press their noses 10 such peculiar
position against their hinder parts tina,
IL would be an absolute impossibility for
them to draw breath.
1.-THE popular backwoods belief IL that
the bear rolls itself up In this way and
does not breathe, but, while the bear Il
classed as perfect hibernator by natu'
ralists, Il breathes while In It's lethargy,
as lie blow-holes In the snow prove
holes melted In the snow beneath which
the animal frequently slows itself away,
under covering Of leaves, which holes
frequently betray its presence to th'
woodsmen.
"The hamster, rodent common ir
northern Germany, IL another animal
that has Its pecullsrities ~ hibernator
Prof. Browne mentions = hamster tina,
was put In box which WAS closed with
earth and straw and placed where the
cold WAS intense, but the hamster did moi
show any sign Of becoming torpid. The
box was then buried In the ground and
was dug up after some hours, when the
animal was found Ia q state Of the mos,
profound lethargy. And this hamstei
was kept In room where there was nc
fire. The animal rolled itself up In q
corner, but presently woke up and came
out. 1t was In the best OF health, but
died In . few days-'suffocsted,' Prof
Browne declared, because Il could moi
have confined ARR
"Our own familiar Wild animals, TIT
bear, tho raccoon and the woodchuck--
the grounding Of colloqulal nomencla
ture-are classed as perfect hibernators
because they store no food for the win
ter, but have acquired thick, fatty sc
erection between the skin and 6esh which
Il IL supposed supplies them with susie
nance. As a matter Of fact, although
dormant animals absorb fat, II does no
enter into their digestive organs. Tn
same fat absorption occurs when the an
imal IL dead. II you kill rabbit or any
other animal and leave the entrails In
the fat will disappear In short time
Remove the entrails and the fat will re
main. Food introduced into the stom
ach OF q alternating animal or reptil
will be found undigested at all stageso
the lethsrgy.
~ say introduced into the stomach
because II could get into the stomach o
such creature only by force or artificial
means, for alternating animal invaria
| bly, goes into Its peculiar state on 81
empty stomach. Why? ! do not know
That Is one OF the mysteries OF the phe
nomenon. But the most mysterious o
all things connected with hibernstinI
animals IL that, although bears an,
woodchucks are profound hibernators
they produce their young during thei
winter sleep.
1.-THE woodchuck Ii undoubtedly
perfect hIbernator and the female bes
IL, but the male bear Is frequently rouse
from his winter sleep, and IL found roam
ing about 10 midwinter.
.The raccoon Is often gregari0us In IL
alternating, and II may be that for tha
reason 1t not infrequently comes fort
from It's snug quarters In the hollow ire
and makes forsging trips about tn
country-the warmth engendered by IN
budding colony arousing one or more Q
Its numbers from their lethargy for IN
time. woodchucks hibernate In pairs
but never knew one Of these proverb
ally sleepy creatures to leave It's hol
until warm weather came-in spite O
the alleged practice II has OF coming ou
invariably on the second day OF Februs
nv to fix the weather for the rest OF tn
| winter.
al took the trouble once 20 dig into
woodchuck's burrow on Candlema
day-and a warm cloudy day It was
lust such day when the ground hog
said to come out of his hole and sta
out. | found two woodchucks In the bul
row, with no more sign Of life abou
them than II they had been shot an
killed. From all outward appearance
III could have taken them out and had
game of football with them without thel
knowing It.
"Squirrels are only partial hibernator
from the fact that they work all summe
and fall, storing great quantities OF foo
to supply them when hunger wakes Their
up during the winter, II, indeed, the
spend much of their time In sleep. Squil
rels are systematic and long-headed pre-
viders for the emergencies OF lon
winter, and not only stow away thei
fsyorite food In one grand store-house
but also make deposits OF 1t In othe
places, so that II one granery or nutter
is destroyed or becomes exhausted, tn
caches can be depended upon.
"When the snow has lain on tn
ground late In the spring, holes may b
seen In It at various places In the wood
where squirrels have dug down throug
| Il to reach the nuts or grain or acorn
buried In the ground three months be
fore for Just such an emergency. Tn
instinct with which these little animal
locate such spots, covered as they ar
with maybe q foot or more OF snow, !
uuerring and marvellous. II the sno'
should happen to be thickly covere
with crust the squirrels are unable 4
dig through It, and 1t Is no rare thing
toward the end Of an unusually lon
winter, for woodsmen to find squirrel
dead on the crust where they had bee
digging desperately to uncover the each
below, the supplies ct the main stor
having become exhausted.
A curious phenomenon Of hibernatio
IA shown In an animal called the loir,
native of Senegal. This animal neve
hibernates In its nstive cline, bot ever
specimen that was ever brought TO Eu
rope became torpid as soon as expose
The cornmou land tortoise M