March 16, 2008 - Wake-up Time

Welcome to the Nature Notebook.

Imagine waking up from a long winter's nap of say, three or four months. You might feel like stretching your legs — all four of them — that is, if you were a chipmunk. And, of course, you would be ready for a good meal. Unlike gray and red squirrels that are active most of the winter, chipmunks spend those months hibernating in an underground burrow. Heart and breathing rates drop to a bare minimum. Body temperature is barely above freezing. They do not wake or eat during this time until their biological alarm clock wakes them. Then, over the course of several days, they regain normal functions. Chipmunks don't stockpile food as do other squirrels. Instead they must depend on a good layer of fat to meet their winter energy needs. So upon waking they must have quite an appetite.

This is PPL's naturalist, Jon Beam, with the Nature Notebook for WVIA.