Animals that hibernate
The site counts any long winter shutdown, not just textbook hibernation: a hedgehog's or dormouse's deep hibernation, a bear's lighter winter sleep, and the cold-season dormancy of snakes, tortoises, frogs and some insects. It's asking "does it disappear for the winter?", which is what the game really means.
Queen bees and wasps that overwinter alone don't count, so bees and wasps aren't listed.
30 animals, A to Z.
- BatBats in temperate regions hibernate or go into torpor; tropical bats don’t.
- Bearded dragonIn cool weather they brumate, a hibernation-like state in which they go months without eating.
- BeetleAbout 90% of beetle species go through a dormant stage as adults, and in winter this is a form of hibernation.
- Black bearIt may even hibernate up a tree, and females give birth in January or February while hibernating.
- Brown bearNot a full hibernator: it dens up for the winter and lives off its fat, but it can be woken easily.
- BullfrogIn cold weather it hibernates, burying itself in mud in a small cave-like hollow for the winter.
- ChipmunkMany chipmunks stay in their burrows through winter, feeding on a larder of stored food.
- CopperheadIt hibernates through winter in dens or limestone crevices, often alongside timber rattlesnakes and rat snakes.
- DormouseIts name comes from it: dormice in cooler places hibernate for six months or more, waking briefly to eat stored food.
- FrogIn colder regions many frogs hibernate through winter, and some can even survive being frozen.
- Grass snakeLike most reptiles it can't survive freezing, so it spends the winter underground.
- Grizzly bearIt hibernates for five to seven months a year without eating or urinating, and females give birth in the den.
- GroundhogIt fattens up by as much as 100% in autumn, then hibernates in its burrow without eating.
- HamsterWild Syrian hamsters can hibernate for a few days at a time; pet hamsters don’t.
- HedgehogAll wild hedgehogs can hibernate. Body temperature drops from about 30–35 °C to as low as 2–5 °C.
- JerboaIt digs a special winter burrow to hibernate in, longer and deeper than its summer one.
- LadybirdIn temperate areas ladybirds hibernate through winter, gathering in clumps; tropical species go dormant in the dry season.
- MarmotMarmots are the largest true hibernators, sleeping through the winter in their burrows.
- NewtOver most of its range it hibernates in winter, often with many newts sharing one underground hiding place.
- Raccoon dogThe only member of the dog family known to hibernate, putting on fat in early winter to get through it.
- RattlesnakeRattlesnakes brumate through winter, sometimes over 1,000 of them huddled together in underground dens.
- Slow wormIt spends the winter months in an underground burrow.
- SnailSome land snails hibernate through winter, sealing the shell opening with a dried layer of mucus to stay moist. They may also go dormant in summer droughts.
- SnakeIn cold winters snakes brumate, a dormancy like hibernation, except that they stay awake but inactive.
- TenrecThe tailless tenrec was the first tropical mammal found to hibernate, for up to nine months without waking.
- TerrapinIn most of its range it hibernates through the colder months in the mud of creeks and marshes.
- ToadToads living on land in cold regions dig a burrow and hibernate through winter.
- TortoiseMany sit out the winter: Hermann's tortoises hibernate until late February, desert tortoises lie dormant in burrows.
- TuataraTuatara hibernate during winter.
- ViperThe adder hibernates for about five to six months in Britain, and up to nine in northern Sweden.
How each answer is decided: How we answer. Every animal, in one list: All animals.