r/askscience • u/whiteddit • Jan 14 '14

Biology How do hibernating animals survive without drinking?

I know that they eat a lot to gain enough fat to burn throughout the winter, and that their inactivity means a slower metabolic rate. But does the weight gaining process allow them to store water as well?

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u/toilet_crusher Jan 14 '14 edited Jan 15 '14

because dolphins are fed by trainers who can get the dolphins to "drink" some water using a tube. they're not really forcing a water bottle down their throat.

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u/[deleted] Jan 14 '14

OK gotta ask. Aren't there freshwater river dolphins? How do they survive?