Beat the Heat

Poo’s the Trick

Storks poo on their legs to cool themselves. This behavior works like sweating. As the poo evaporates off the stork’s body, it takes some body heat with it.

In One Ear, Out the Other

Jackrabbits have oversized ears to help keep them cool in their hot desert environment. Their long ears are loaded with blood vessels, which help circulate warm blood from the jackrabbit’s body to its ears. This cooling process, called vasodilation (vay-soe-die-LAY-shun), releases heat from its body through its ears.

Sun’s Out, Tongue’s Out

Dogs have fewer sweat glands than you do. Though dogs lose heat through the sweat glands on their feet, they mostly rely on panting to keep their tongue and mouth cool and maintain a safe body temperature.

Splish Splash

Have you ever seen a bird splashing in a birdbath on a hot day? Sometimes our feathered friends do this to cool off. They don’t have sweat glands, so their bodies can’t release heat like your body does.

Tree Huggers

Some lemurs hug trees to cool their warm bellies. Sometimes they also lick their hands and feet to encourage heat to evaporate.

Bubble Up

Scientists recently discovered that blowflies stay cool by drinking their own spit bubbles. When a fly blows bubbles, the saliva cools down. When the fly slurps the saliva back up, its body temperature lowers.

Summer Survival

Some animals go into a state of dormancy called aestivation (es-ti-VAY-shun) to save their energy during warmer months. This is similar to hibernation, but happens during the summer, not winter. Many reptiles and amphibians aestivate, including crocodiles and some salamanders.