WHY ANIMALS MIGRATE? Many animals migrate, traveling to avoid bad weather, to find food, or to reproduce.

Some migrators travel short distances, other go thousands of miles. Migrators travel by flying, swimming, walking, hopping, burrowing, or slithering. True migrators make a two-way trip each year from one place to another and back again. Direction of Migration: Most migrators travel north and south, but some, like the umbrellabird and the earthworm, migrate vertically (up and down). The umbrellabird migrates from high altitude forests to low altitude forests; termites and earthworms travel from near the surface to deep into the soil. Longest Migrations: The Arctic tern migrates the longest distances of any animal. It flies over 21,750 miles (35,000 km) each year - roughly the circumference of the Earth. The whale that migrates the longest (and the longest-migrating mammal) is the Gray Whale, which migrates about 12,500 miles (20,110 km) each year. The insect that migrates the longest is the desert locust, which travels about 2,800 miles (4500 km). The butterfly that migrates the longest is the Monarch, which migrates up to 2,000 miles, flying from Canada to central Mexico in the fall. The land animal that migrates the longest is the caribou, which travels about 700 miles (1100 km).

WHY ANIMALS HIBERNATE? Some animals hibernate over the winter, going into a very deep sleep. Hibernating animals usually retreat to a den, a burrow, or a hollow log for protection and shelter. During "true hibernation," the animal's body temperature drops, and its rate of breathing slows down. These hibernating animals are very difficult to awaken. Most animals will eat large amounts of food before hibernating, adding body fat that will nourish them during the winter. Occasionally, hibernating animals will awaken periodically during the winter to eat. When most hibernating animals awaken in the spring, they are very hungry. Some of the animals listed below are not "true hibernators," but they do become dormant over winter or go into diapause (a suspended state that some insects enter during cold, short days). For example, during cold winter months, some bears go into a dormant state in which their heart rate is extremely low, their body temperature is relatively high, they neither eat nor release bodily waste, and they can be roused (unlike "true hibernators"). In older scientific literature, hibernation used to refer only to low-body-temperature winter dormancy, but now that much more is known about this dormancy phase, some bears (like the black bear) are considered to be extremely efficient hibernators (some biologists refer to these animals as "super hibernators").