When Bats Hibernate in Snow

SPEAKER_1 (0:08)

You're listening to Strange by Nature, your guide to the strange, weird, unbelievable and improbable wonders of the natural world.

Kirk Mona (0:23)

Hello, everyone, and thanks for being here today. I'm Kirk Mona, and joining me are Rachel Gimza and Victoria Thompson. We're all naturalists who together have scoured the world for weird and wonderful wonders, just to please your mammalian brain's desire for novelty. Isn't that nice? Let's do this.

Rachel Gimza (0:41)

Welcome, welcome, welcome to the show, everyone.

Victoria Thompson (0:44)

Hey.

Kirk Mona (0:44)

Hello, hello, hello.

Rachel Gimza (0:45)

We have made it to 295, and I am super excited.

Victoria Thompson (0:51)

Getting so close.

Kirk Mona (0:52)

Five more to go.

Rachel Gimza (0:54)

I hope that at this point in time, I don't know if our original has come out of requesting for...

Victoria Thompson (1:04)

I think it has.

Rachel Gimza (1:05)

It has?

Kirk Mona (1:06)

It has, yeah, just barely.

Rachel Gimza (1:08)

Yeah, just barely. So just when we have recorded this, we record it in advance, a little bit in advance. So I really hope that some of you join us. Be super exciting. But in the meantime...

SPEAKER_1 (1:21)

To do what, Rachel?

Victoria Thompson (1:23)

To do what?

Rachel Gimza (1:23)

Oh, to do what?

Kirk Mona (1:25)

What should they do, Rachel?

Rachel Gimza (1:26)

They should send us a little voice memo, a little recording telling us their favorite fact or fun thing that they learned from the show, favorite thing that they like about the show. Just celebrate episode 300

Victoria Thompson (1:37)

And we'll include your name and where you're from.

Rachel Gimza (1:40)

Yeah.

Kirk Mona (1:41)

Yep. Send it to contact us at strangebynitialpodcast.com.

Rachel Gimza (1:45)

There it is. But in the meantime, I get to get us started this week. And boy, howdy. So we've talked about hibernation a number of times on this podcast.

This is, however, coming out in October. Oh boy. I love doing a little spooky things.

So I'm mixing this a little bit. Okay. So hibernation, we've talked about before. True hibernation in the natural world doesn't really happen all that often. Like that's, it's a tough thing.

Victoria Thompson (2:27)

Okay.

Rachel Gimza (2:28)

Okay.

Kirk Mona (2:28)

Yeah.

Rachel Gimza (2:29)

Most animals go through like brumation or avoid it all together, or adapt to deal with the cold weather and such. A lot of animals truly, that's where migration comes from. Get out of dodge. Don't want to be there. Honestly, I get it. But I do like the snow. So, oh well.

I do have a question for all of you, for you two, since I can't ask our listeners right now. To all of you two.

Kirk Mona (2:57)

Again, you can scream it to your phone or whatever. You can scream, yell.

Rachel Gimza (3:02)

I unfortunately can't hear you.

Kirk Mona (3:04)

Scream all you want, we can't hear you.

Rachel Gimza (3:07)

Ah, really starting this off real well in October here.

Victoria Thompson (3:12)

Okay.

Rachel Gimza (3:13)

Now, what do you know about how bats deal with winter?

Victoria Thompson (3:23)

Well, a lot of them will, I don't know if it's true hibernation, but hibernate in a cave or other type of protected environment.

Rachel Gimza (3:34)

And a lot will migrate as well to milder climates. Sure, yes. Especially since, as we've talked about on the show before, bats generally eat things like fruit and insects.

Victoria Thompson (3:48)

Yes.

Rachel Gimza (3:48)

Those are hard to come by in the winter when it's cold and not enough sun and those things aren't around.

Victoria Thompson (3:56)

You know what's available all year round though? Blood.

Rachel Gimza (4:01)

Blood. Blood. We've already talked about the vampire bat.

Kirk Mona (4:04)

I know.

Victoria Thompson (4:05)

And they live in a tropical area.

Rachel Gimza (4:07)

They do. They do.

Kirk Mona (4:09)

We're safe.

Rachel Gimza (4:11)

Yeah. This particular species of bats, the Yersin tube-nosed bat.

Victoria Thompson (4:21)

Tube-nosed bat.

Kirk Mona (4:22)

Okay.

Victoria Thompson (4:22)

Tube-nosed bat.

Rachel Gimza (4:24)

Has been witnessed hibernating, but not in the cave.

Victoria Thompson (4:29)

Oh, okay.

Kirk Mona (4:30)

Okay. In someone's attic?

Rachel Gimza (4:33)

No. They've been witnessed...

Kirk Mona (4:36)

In a bear's nose.

Victoria Thompson (4:37)

Oh, they're so cute.

Rachel Gimza (4:38)

They are very cute. They've been witnessed hibernating in the snow.

Kirk Mona (4:44)

What? Oh.

Rachel Gimza (4:47)

And this is a small bat.

Kirk Mona (4:49)

I would have guessed.

Rachel Gimza (4:50)

Right?

Kirk Mona (4:51)

Okay.

Rachel Gimza (4:51)

This is a small bat in southeastern Korea, Siberia and Japan. Okay.