Hibernation Poem

 Hibernation, Hibernation,
Is a special thing,
Not sleeping only through the night,
But winter through the spring!
I knew a kid who slept too much,
He’d take a nap then sleep,
Actually, he hibernated,
Didn’t make a peep…
sleeping emoji
That kid,
He liked to hibernate,
For months, or weeks, or days,
To protect himself from the cold,
Until the sun shone rays…
That kid,
He liked to hibernate,
Not eating this or that,
Had a lower body temperature,
Lived on his body’s fat!
One day he woke,
From his sleep,
He looked striaght at the sun,
He’d slept right through,
His tenth birthday,
Wondered what he’d done!

What is Hibernation?

Humans, such as the kid in this poem, do not hibernate, but some animals that do hibernate include ground squirrels, hedgehogs, bats, frogs, and ladybugs.

Hibernation helps animals survive periods that are too cold, and when food is scarce. During hibernation, the body temperature of the animal drops, and their respiration slows. Hibernating animals survive by burning fat that is stored in their bodies.

Hibernation, or sleep states, vary between species. Torpor describes shorter periods of low metabolism (that may last only for the cold parts of a day). Brumation describes how reptiles slow their metabolism (but are not actually asleep), and denning describes the low metabolism state of bears- whose body temperature does not drop nearly as much as a true hibernator.