Keeping it Cool

Keeping it Cool

In many areas, summers can be beastly. The weather can be hot and sticky. People have come up with many ways to stay cool on hot days. We use air conditioning in buildings, we can spend an afternoon at the pool or we enjoy some ice cream to cool our bodies.

What about other animals, though? Do they have any tricks to keep cool? Of course they do! Here are a few ways that animals like to cool off in the summer.

Shedding
Mammals are a group of animals that include humans, dogs and cats. Most mammals have hair on their bodies. Some have a heavy coat of fur. During winter, the fur thickens. This protects animals from the cold. In warm weather, the fur falls out. This is called shedding. By shedding this fur, more heat can leave the animal’s body. This helps the animal keep cool.

Hiding
On a hot summer day, you might hide from the sun under an umbrella. Animals do the same thing, but they use natural umbrellas, such as big leaves or tall trees. They also hide under rocks or fallen trees. Anything that blocks the sun’s rays will do. Some animals stay hidden all day. They wait until the sun sets. At night, they come out to look for food.

Sweating
When you sweat, water rises to the surface of your skin. In the heat, sweat evaporates: it changes from liquid to gas. This cools the skin a bit. Most animals don’t sweat. Horses do, however. Dogs do, too. But dogs sweat only through their paws, which isn’t enough to keep cool on its own. That is why dogs must use a mix of other strategies as well.

Panting
Heat leaves your body when you breathe out. Dogs, cats and lots of other animals cool off by panting. Birds do it as well. Have you ever seen an open-mouthed bird on a hot day? There’s a good chance it was panting.

Pooping
Bird poop is gooey because it contains lots of water. Storks and vultures use this to keep cool. They poop on their legs during the summer. When the water in the poop evaporates, it provides a cooling effect. It works similar to sweat.

Swimming
Jumping into a swimming pool is a lot of fun. It also cools you off. Animals like water too. They look for ponds, rivers, streams and jump in to cool down. Some animals, such as pigs, prefer mud to water. Mud keeps them cool longer and protects their skin from insects.

Sleeping
Bears hibernate through the winter. They take a long winter sleep. When they sleep, they don’t have to worry about finding food in the cold. Some animals do something similar to avoid the heat of summer. They take a long summer sleep. The water-holding frog is an example. In summer, it tunnels into sandy ground. Then it builds a bubble of cool mucus around it to protect itself.

Eating
People like to eat ice cream to cool down. In the summer, many zoo animals enjoy cold treats, too. Bears love to snack on frozen fruit. Sea otters get frozen fish. Lions enjoy ice pops made from blood.

Based on: washingtonpost.com