I've always been fascinated by Bear behavior because it seems so full of contradictions. Yo-yo dieting is supposedly bad for us, but for bears it's a path toward survival. A bear can pack on one million calories before hibernation, and nourish itself during winter without even urination. How do they do that?
Bears adapt so well to many environments, as do humans, but they seemed more successful, at least until man-made climate change. Obviously, many keys to our problems of nourishment, obesity, habitat, are in there for us to find, if we survive that is. And if we don't, I see some evolution of bears far in the future studying ancient human behaviors for keys to their survival. "You see children, these creatures didn't even hibernate! How foolish!"
21
Yes! I didn't even read the article just the headline, but yes!
9
I am sure there are a lot of Americans who would like to hibernate forever having enormous consignment of Popeye sandwiches.
5
So they go in obese. Sleep during the bad weather months. Live off their fat and wake up in the Spring with all of their lean muscle intact? WOW
16
I don’t think my job would go for it.
27
I remember being told this story growing up in Vermont, of the elderly and infirm in one poor family being frozen for the winter and later thawed out the next spring in order to save on the costs of their care. For anyone interested, here is a link: https://vtdigger.org/2017/02/05/then-again-bizarre-tale-of-hibernation-is-a-mystery/
7
We should be so lucky.
5
Great article!
5
Free divers have somehow managed to utilize an apparently latent human ability and managed to stay submerged for over 11 minutes and have pulse rates as low as 14 beats per minute. Is this possibly related to hibernation?
21
November is a wonderful month to publish this piece. We all can easily relate since the most desirable activities this time of year are eating and sleeping. It’s a terrible time to begin a diet; the dank, leafless hillsides devour light; and Prozac leaps off pharmacy shelves like it’s auditioning for The Nutcracker. And precisely at the nadir of our capabilities arrives the monumental expectation of the holidays. The bears have it exactly right. Sign me up.
39
I'm unequivocally with the bears, who know when to stay in and when to go out. Take away the capitalistic grip and we might all recover once again proper seasonality of things - as Hesiod, Ecclesiastes and many others have through the ages. To the L.E.D.-lit, congested concrete jungle I paraphrase young James Dean, "you're tearing us apart!" Go bears...
8
Hey, pigging out for app. six months and then sleeping it off for app. six months is something I would contribute money towards research.
Forgot about research for spinach or running is good for your health. I am not interested in that!
13
This article addressed mainly mammals. But it would also be interesting to know what happens to reptiles (snakes, lizards...)
when temperatures fall. Do they hibernate as well?
8
These bears have a very low quality of life at this facility and WSU refuses to fix it for them even though the bears are providing all of this data for us unknowingly.
14
Sleep is the best, safest, least harmful incubator for anything.
Our country is insane because most people don't sleep well, and don't sleep enough.
I boast of how I sleep 10-12 hours a night during the deep dark days of winter, and I don't care what anyone thinks.
It feels normal, and healthy, and I ride through the winter with relative sanity and rarely get sick.
51
I've been arguing this case for years. Science is finally catching up.
15
I recall a case of a boy who fell into icy water and was brought out long after a person would normally have drowned. He was unconscious and his body temperature had dropped to a level normally incompatible with human life. Nevertheless, heroic efforts at resuscitation were successful—against great odds—the doctors insisted, It was a freak, but the boy, according to the doctors, had been in a state similar to hibernation.
I believe there are other recorded cases similar to this. The extreme cold of the water into which the boy had fallen was apparently a factor.
15
This just reminds me of practically every sci-fi movie that I've seen. I'm just referring to the section about extraterrestrial travel. Honestly, I think this is how many species survived so long. Even through somewhat extreme circumstances. Maybe the human species will survive longer if we accomplish this feat.
12
As an inhabitant of a northern state I wish I could go into hibernation during January and February.
42
@Jodrake
And wake up thinner, too!
13
@Jodrake
I wish other people could go into much longer hibernation periods.
16
i want to be a bear.
57
@anonymous Me too! I've always loved watching documentaries about bears. I often think we humans could learn a thing or two from our ursine brethren.
18
Hmmmmmm, “healthy obesity”?? Well, they DO eat a lot of salmon....
24
@stevevelo
Imagine waking up from hibernation and finding yourself slim, all your unsightly fat gone!
12
Let me be the first to volunteer in any human hibernation experiment.
35
I think I might be a bear.
29