Groundhogs are starting to disappear for the year... and what happens to their bodies underground is pretty wild.
During deep hibernation, a groundhog's body temperature can drop from around 99°F to as low as 37°F. Their heart rate can fall from roughly 80 beats per minute to only 4-5, and their breathing can slow to about one breath every few minutes.
They'll spend the winter surviving almost entirely on the fat they worked so hard to pack on all summer.
So when you stop seeing those chunky little bodies waddling around soon, they aren't just sleeping. Their entire body has essentially shifted into energy-saving mode until spring.
Stanley here will be staying awake with us - as he has epilepsy and needs medications daily to keep him healthy. By controlling his environment, we can stop the signals that he would normally get to tell him it's time to hibernate - but his wild friends are getting ready to clock out for the season.
I didn't downvote anyone myself, though I felt a bit embarrassed by some of the comments and debated a number of times on deleting this post.
I can't speak for anyone else, but I will tell you why I am disappointed in some of the comments.
I shared this as it was an informative post, and it had a nice animal in it and someone who is rightfully very proud of their accomplishments.
If someone can't bother to comment about either the animal or the accomplishment of the hundreds of hours of effort this lady and her staff will give the animal to give it a good life when it would otherwise die, but solely comment on her looks and nothing else, it feels like that is the only value you find in all that was shared.
It makes me feel guilty for sharing the photo at all, and that upsets me.
No one will argue that she is an objectively good looking person. I'm going to hazard all of us here have eyes and agree. But if it was a guy or an elderly lady, would these commenters have participated in this post? I looked at all the votes, and I don't recognize any of the names from my thousands of other animals posts, so again, it seems as though they are here for off topic reasons.
The intentions may very well be good in saying these things, but nothing in the post is really about her, at least not anything about her appearance. It just doesn't seem like the most tactful place to bring that up.
I remember Reddit had r/UNBGBBIIVCHIDCTIICBG: Upvoted Not Because Girl, But Because It Is Very Cool; However, I Do Concede That I Initially Clicked Because Girl, but this isn't that. If that's how some people feel, just enjoy the pic, click upvote, and you're good!
I hope that was a helpful and respectful reply. I like to assume no one is being intentionally disrespectful, but I also don't think it's too hard to see how others are not able to be sure of your true intent could see it as such.
Oh dont worry, i was here for him not her lol. But im also not blind was my point, and i dont think you need to feel bad or uncomfortable about posting this with the lady in the pic. Humans gonna human, with all the good and bad. That's not your fault or responsibility
I appreciate you saying all of that.