![]() You may wonder why all mammals in cold climates don’t hibernate. Unlike deer, which are left to face the elements all year long, groundhogs will hunker down in their protected burrows-probably under your deck or shed-and sleep the frigid time away. Sleeping the cold, dark winter months away instead of foraging for scraps of food day after day, might not be such a bad idea. Many mammals that live in winter climates hibernate or go through a form of hibernation. Whatever the reason, young groundhogs seem to be most affected by this strange issue as well as groundhogs that wake up in late in the spring season. If a body is already debilitated by an illness, any drop in body temperature may not be able to maintain enough energy for life support. Some experts believe that disease also plays a part in groundhog deaths while in hibernation. Groundhogs that awaken early in the spring have that much more time to build up fat stores for next year’s winter. This strange death is not a result of starvation, but could be linked to the low body temperature or the nutritional health of the animal. Interestingly enough, some big groundhogs will enter the hibernation state and never wake up. Animals with the widest variety of food sources can make it through the longest winters. Studies have shown that groundhogs with access to alfalfa can grow to be a third as large as groundhogs without the leafy resource. Alfalfa, one of the staples of many groundhog diets, is at its peak in late summer, and provides a nutrient dense food source. Apples, acorns, walnuts, and other protein-rich, high calorie foods are available. Fall is an opportune time for a groundhog to store up fat. In order to make it through a hibernation state, a groundhog starts to eat a surplus of food in late summer, early fall. Without enough nutrient dense food to chew, the groundhog would operate at an energy deficit and ultimately die of starvation. A groundhog is a rodent, and therefore needs to chew in order to keep its teeth at a manageable length. ![]() To make it sensible to remain active during periods of poor nutrition, an animal needs to take in at least as many calories as it uses up in day to day activities. ![]() Because of this vegetation-dependent diet, a groundhog would find it increasingly difficult to find enough food to last through a long winter. Groundhogs are mostly herbivorous creatures, though they will eat insects and other arthropods from time to time. This discovery proved that hibernation was an involuntary, internal mechanism and not one induced by the decrease in environmental temperatures. Scientists recently discovered it is the slowing of the metabolism that decreases the temperature and not the other way around. It used to be assumed that an animal’s metabolism decrease was due to the fact that body temperature was the first function to lessen during hibernation. Groundhogs, unlike bears, enter true hibernation, and the core temperature of a groundhog can get below thirty two degrees Fahrenheit! This cold temperature cannot be held indefinitely, and so every hibernating animal wakes up periodically to move and reestablish body temperature. Hibernation allows an animal to live through periods of extreme cold when food supplies are few or nonexistent. While in hibernation mode, and animal’s body temperature drops and most bodily functions are significantly slowed. Hibernation is a state of slowed metabolic rate that allows an animal to live off of stored fat for long periods of time. Need groundhog removal in your hometown? We service over 500 USA locations! Click here to hire us in your town and check prices - updated for year 2020.
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