During storms and extreme cold, many people worry about the impact on wildlife.
In fact, blogs on this topic are among the most popular in Cool Green Science.
In the summer, most of us don’t worry about the birds and others in the neighborhood.
In the Northern Hemisphere, warmer weather means more season.
Of course, extreme heat waves can be deadly for wildlife, and the last one in Europe has proved deadly for everything from butterflies to hedgehogs.
And just like snow and cold, some wild animals are better suited to thrive in hot and dry conditions.
These species live in some of the most inhospitable environments on earth.
To do that means adaptations that allow them to beat the heat.
Photo © Robert Gransow
Like beachgoers, hippos use a lot of sunscreen – but they pay for it.
The hippo produces a mucus-like substance that coats the skin, providing an effective defense.
This multi-purpose material also moisturizes the skin while at the same time repels water, allowing the hippo to stay in the water for longer.
If that is not enough, the sap also serves as an antibiotic, protecting the skin from infection.
When the sun rises, this substance turns red, leading European explorers to declare that Hippos’ blood is sweat.
Now we know it’s not sweat or blood.
The common and pygmy hippos are the only species that have this substance.
Researchers have taken incredible steps to understand it (one intrepid scientist dressed in a hippo suit and rested in mud and feces to collect samples of how hippos hid).
The Marbled African Lungfish (Protopterus aethiopicus) breathes air, “walks” underwater on its fins, and can grow to nearly six feet!
A dry riverbed is generally bad news for fish, but not for African lungfish.
This species can breathe air.
As hydrologist and blogger Solomon David wrote in an earlier Cool Green Science story:
“During periods of drought, African lungs are unique in that they can live in complete desiccation (dryness) by evaluating them: they go through a period of slow metabolism, almost like sleep.
Scientists tested the African lungfish in the laboratory and found that it can be revived even after seven years of ‘sleep!'”
The Long Sleep of Ground Squirrels
Photo © Matt Miller/TNC
Lungfish are not the only species to be measured.
Many species experience shedding during hot weather to conserve energy.
Several species of ground squirrels that live around my house in Idaho are extreme examples.
I start seeing them in March or April, but by early July they are back underground.
I live on the edge of the high desert, with hot, summer conditions.
Staying and getting food requires a lot of energy, so scaling makes sense.
Interestingly, if I travel north into the high mountains, I often find the same types of ground floors all summer long.
With cooler temperatures and green plants, they don’t need to spend much time underground.
Bull elk in Yellowstone.
Photo © Phil Parsons/Flickr
I know some wildlife lovers who wax rhapsodic about the musky scent of elk, but they actually smell awful.
One of the causes of this smell is the lawn.
Bull elk, in particular, create walls where springs emerge from the ground, or near natural mineral licks.
These are going to be like big mud toilets.
The cow dung soaks them, while they also urinate and occasionally pass urine.
Then they soak some more, mixing in mud (and other liquids), giving them an amazing look and an even more amazing smell.
It is well known among biologists and hunters that these walls serve an obvious territorial purpose.
But research has shown that the sky, including cows, also use the walls to cool and protect insects in the summer.
But if you come across a mud bath in the desert and think it would make a great spa: Don’t.
Photo © Tana Kappel/TNC
For many animals, the secret to heat stroke is very simple: find shade.
For sunny, cold-blooded animals found in warm habitats, shade is especially important.
Researchers have found that sunflowers live better where there are many small areas of shade, rather than just a few areas of shade.
This, unfortunately, presents a bleak future for many types of solar.
With climate change, many of these small pockets of shade in arid environments will become increasingly hot, making them ineffective shelters from the sun.
Some predict that 20 percent of the sun will disappear by the year 2080, due in no small part to the decline in shade.
Big Ears of Treasures
Photo © Aaron Fellmeth Photography / Flickr
I often encounter black-tailed jackrabbits on my desert walks, and most of what you can see are big ears.
The ears are full of blood vessels.
As blood flows to the ear, heat is transferred to the air.
According to National Geographic’s Education Blog, “blood vessels can expand (a process called vasodilation), allowing more warm blood to circulate through the ears even with greater heat loss.”
If the outside air temperature is below 86 degrees, the jackrabbit can shed all of its excess body heat through its ears.
They do not sweat or perspire, both shed water – important in the arid environment in which this animal lives.
Kangaroo Rats and Extreme Water Conservation
Photo taken in Texas
Photo © Andy Teucher / Flickr
If you run in hot weather, you know how difficult it is to stay hydrated.
Kangaroo rats roam the hottest, driest places in North America, and they don’t crawl.
They can do this because they are like small water conservation machines.
Almost every aspect of their body, their body shape and habit helps conserve water.
Their noses have large passages that allow them to reabsorb water from their breath.
They cool down through their oily coats and by digging holes in the ground, so again, they lose very little moisture during the heat of the day.
Photo © Mark Conlin, courtesy of the Tallahassee Museum of Natural History
Any gardener knows that birds bathe regularly, and while this may help keep our feathered friends cool, it is not their primary function.
Many birds also seek shade.
If you look closely, you’ll see that some breeds (including backyard chickens) pee like dogs.
In some birds, the “breath” appears to be sudden and strange, what biologists call “gular fluttering.” According to the US Fish and Wildlife Service: “Fluttering is a combination of rapid breathing, an open mouth and a rapid vibration of the moist pharynx that causes evaporation.
As excess heat leaves the bird’s body with each breath, the bird cools down.”
Published on July 8, 2019
Join a Reply Stop Chat Please note that all comments are moderated and may take some time to appear. Comment * Name *
Janet Davis says:
Is this sentence correct?
“If the outside air temperature is below 86 degrees, a jackrabbit can shed all of its excess body heat into its ears.”
Love Cool Science Green!!!
Yes, that’s right.
Thanks for following Cool Green Science!
Matt
Barbara Longmuir says:
Just love your blogs and I am sure they learn many interesting facts.
Matt Miller says:
Matt Miller says:
July 15, 2019
July 15, 2019
July 15, 2019
July 15, 2019
We love it when our readers submit and share our stories!
Thank you for your support of Cool Green Science.
special said:
Debbie Nicholson says:
I love your blog and shared what a zebra page is in my post at 330pm on June 1st.