As hearts pop up all around us at this time of year, wonder what is going on with our animal neighbors’ hearts?
Try to put these animals in order from the fastest heartbeats to the slowest heartbeats in winter. Check your answers below.
Shrews are active in winter and have a heart rate of over 700 beats per minute. If a shrew does not eat within a few hours, they will likely die.
A hibernating black bear’s heart rate drops from an average of 55 beats per minute down to about 14 beats per minute.
A hibernating woodchuck’s heart rate drops from around 80 beats per minute to as low as 4 beats per minute.
A painted turtle’s heart beats about 40 beats per minute when they’re basking in the sun in the summer. But during the winter, when they’re buried in the mud at the bottom of a pond, their heartbeat drops to as low as 8 beats per hour.
Wood Frogs have NO heartbeat in their frozen winter state.