Box Turtles do it. Prairie dogs do it. Bats do it. Many of us would also like to do it.
Just what is this magical escape into a prolonged winter sleep? It is a state referred to as hibernation a condition somewhere between sleep and death, when ''life all but stands still.''
Entry into hibernation is gradual, and the body temperature drops close to that of the surrounding air.
Some mammals are just a few degrees warmer than their burrows. During this very deep sleep, breathing may slow to only a breath every five minutes or so, and hibernating animals may lie motionless for long periods.
If exposed to moderately warm temperatures, the sleeping animal will awaken and be alert in little more than an hour. Conversely, an internal alarm may go off if the temperature drops precipitously, causing the animal to awaken and move around. If this fails, an animal faces freezing to death.
Some hibernators awaken at irregular intervals to eat and eliminate wastes, then return to sleep.
One of the best known hibernators is the woodchuck this is the groundhog people eagerly await to emerge from his burrow on Feb. 2 each year to ''predict' whether or not we'll have six more weeks of winter.
These animals burrow in about five feet in early fall, and hibernate until March. Unlike most other mammals, the groundhog also stores food in the burrow to see it through the winter.
Other true hibernators ground squirrels and mice prepare for hibernation by building up large amounts of body fat. Woodchucks, bears, and some ground squirrels eat so much before settling in, their fat reserves provide them fuel for the entire winter.
Texas has few hibernators. This is because of our mild climate, where temperatures rarely fall below freezing for extended periods in many parts of the state.
Many small mammals in colder regions solve the problem of winter food scarcity and low temperature by entering a prolonged, controlled state of dormancy.
Skunks, opossums and raccoons use sleep to escape winters' chill, but they usually do not nap for extended periods, and body functions remain normal. While stored fat provides nourishment, these animals will be looking for food again as soon as they wake up.
When you mention hibernation, often the first animal that comes to mind is the bear. While asleep during very cold periods, the bear is not a true hibernator. His body temperature is higher, the heart rate remains the same, and the breathing remains normal. Unlike a true hibernator, the bear will awaken if touched or disturbed.
He does, however, prepare his body for the period of winter inactivity. Cubs are born during this period when the female is half-asleep, and the young continue to nurse and sleep until they come out of the den in spring.
Chilly temperatures are the most important factor encouraging hibernation. Many reptiles, insects and other animals become sluggish as soon as the weather grows brisk, and as it turns colder they become dormant.
When daily temperatures fall below 50 degrees, snakes find a place to sleep in crevices or under rocks, until conditions become more hospitable. Turtles, toads and frogs bury themselves in mud or burrow into the ground when temperatures fall.
Hibernation differs from sleep in several respects. Sleeping animals relax, but their way of living does not change day to day. Sleep in wildlife is varied, and both short and long sleepers are represented in the bird, mammal and reptile worlds.
Long sleepers are generally animals with dens and burrows; short sleepers are prey species such as cottontails that must be alert for predators.
Still another condition occurs in animals, called estivation, and West Texas has many estivators. Estivation is ''summer'' sleep, and where summers are hot and dry, food or water supplies may become scarce.
Certain desert ground squirrels take to their burrows in summer and remain there several months. Resident amphibians burrow into dirt until they reach soil that still contains moisture, where they will await another rain. The desert tortoise, as well as other land and water turtles both hibernate and estivate.
Whether it is hibernation to endure periods of cold, or estivation to withstand periods of drought and heat, survival is the end result.
Carol Mitchell is the executive cirector of the South Plains Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, Inc. She can be reached at email@example.com
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