ClarkeNo. From the beginning of autumn, snakes began to eat a lot of food, so as to accumulate various nutrients, especially fat, in their bodies. These accumulated nutrients are enough to provide the necessary energy for the body during hibernation.
When the snake hibernates, it stays in its nest without eating or moving, or has little activity. The number of breaths decreases, the blood circulation slows down, the metabolism is very weak, and the nutrients consumed are relatively reduced. When the nutrients stored in the body are running out, hibernation is over.
Because snakes are cold-blooded animals, the temperature in the body changes with the change of ambient temperature. In winter, when the outside temperature drops, the snake's body temperature also drops. Whenever winter comes and the temperature drops to 7-8 ℃, the snake begins to choose caves, tree holes and rock cracks in high dry areas as a shelter to hibernate. During hibernation, there are often dozens or hundreds of snakes of the same or different species clustered together.
During this period, the snake does not eat and only consumes the fat stored in the body before overwintering to maintain the minimum needs of life activities. In such a harsh natural environment in winter, the mortality of scattered hibernating snakes is as high as 1 / 3 to 1 / 2. If the group hibernates, the ambient temperature can be increased by 1-2 ℃, and the loss of water can be reduced. This will greatly reduce the level of energy consumption in the body, reduce mortality, and increase the chance of mating between male and female snakes after coming out of hibernation next spring.
