Do bears really sleep all winter? Plus: who was the first person to use a parachute?
Dear Cecil: Do bears actually sleep straight through winter, and if so, how do they keep from dehydrating? — Ashley S., Memphis, TN Easy. They don’t pee. You were expecting maybe Gatorade? You may think hibernation is another bit of naturalist hype, like the millipede having a thousands legs or the century plant blooming every hundred years. Uh-uh. Although they can rouse themselves quickly if disturbed, bears really do sleep for three to seven months during winter — not because of the cold, but because of the scarcity of food. What’s more, they do so without dehydration or other harm to themselves, although they shed more than a quarter of their body weight during their long nap — as much as 250 pounds. (They bulk up during the warm months.) Bear hibernation is of great interest to scientists, who hope it will teach us how to help people with kidney disease, anorexia, and other problems. And while we’re at it, how to sleep off extra weight. Bear hibernation is sometimes called winter
