Barry Gordon, age 10, of Philadelphia. PA

Why do animals hibernate?

The cold‑blooded animals depend upon the warm air and the warm ground to keep themselves active, Frogs and snakes become sluggish when the weather turns chilly. These animals hibernate to escape the winter's cold, But there is another and maybe more important reason why so many animals sleep through the winter,

The woodchuck is a warm‑blooded fellow with a thick fur coat, He hibernates because food is scarce through the winter months. Countless animals live on insects or green vegetation and these food supplies tend to disappear with the first snowfall. The main reason for hibernation, then, seems to be a lack of food, though some of the cold‑blooded animals also hibernate to escape the cold.