Do animals eat while they hibernate?

Bat hibernating

Many forest mammals eat plants during the warm months. When winter comes, these plants die or are covered with snow, and then the animals have nothing to eat. But nature has given them a way to survive the harsh winter. It is called hibernation, from the Latin word meaning "winter".

The animals that hibernate eat much more than they need during the summer, and this excess food is stored as fat. Then, when the cold comes, the animals look for a hole or den to sleep in.

Their heartbeat and breathing slow down, and their body temperature drops. In this state, the animals need very little food. They can get the food they need from the fat stored in their body, and they don't need to eat a single thing during the winter.

The gopher, marmot, squirrel, some bats, and many rodents hibernate during the winter. However, other animals, such as bears, retreat to their burrows when the cold comes, but they don't really hibernate. These animals sleep much more than usual in winter, but they wake up easily if they are disturbed or just to check from time to time if spring has arrived.

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