1. American black bears recycle their urine
An American black bear at Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, Taken in September 2010. Courtesy: Alan Vernon/Wikipedia/CC BY 2.0.
American Black bears hibernate between 3 and 5 months each year and during that time they don’t move, at all. That’s according to a 2015 paper which states that a hibernating American black bear doesn’t “eat, drink, defecate, or urinate.”
So how does it stay alive?
For starters, bears use their fat as fuel. In the fall, bears increase their caloric intake to upwards of 20,000 calories a day to build up reserves to burn through while hibernating.
Their urine is reabsorbed by the bear’s bladder, which allows for the “metabolic recycling” of waste, water, and ions, “thereby obviating the need for eating and drinking,” according to the paper.
This recycling of urine is “likely critical for successful hibernation in bears,” the study reads.
2. Frogcicles
Photo courtesy: Brian Gratwicke/Wikipedia/CC BY 2.0.
The zombie wood frog has a neat party trick that helps it survive the cold. When temperatures drop in northern Canada they just go with the flow, and turn themselves into little blocks of ice.