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Article: Get ready for winter: these dormice are getting ready for a long winter sleep. They eat a lot of food. The food helps them survive, or live, through the winter.(Cover story)
- Article from:
- Weekly Reader, Edition 2 (including Science Spin)
- Article date:
- November 3, 2006
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Weekly Reader Corp. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Good Night, Sleep Tight!
Can you find the dormouse sleeping in the hill?
The dormouse can sleep for six months during the winter. That long sleep is called hibernation (high-ber-NAY-shun). During hibernation, an animal's body temperature drops, and its heart rate slows.
Some animals go into such a deep sleep that they cannot be wakened. Others wake for a short time to look for food. Then they quickly fall back to sleep. Hibernating animals wake in the spring, when the weather is warm. They look for food.
How Does a Dormouse Get Ready for the Winter?
Eats a Lot
It stores food so it can survive without eating.