It’s Time for Some New York Pets to Be Buried Alive
As winter approaches in New York State, local animals are preparing in their own unique ways. One special pet, however, might need some help burying itself alive.
While unique pets like snakes or lizards might need help shedding their skin, burying an animal seems pretty extreme. As strange as it sounds, the burying process is only the beginning of the weirdness.
People Burying Their Pets on the Internet
Like many odd facts in the 21st century, I learned about burying animals on the internet. An Instagram named @dogdogcatcatnoodle (in reference to the family's two dogs, two cats, and one snake) seems to go viral every year for how they take care of their other two pets.
What Is Brumation?
Their pets, two Eastern box turtles named Squirtle and Jelly Bean, are just one species of turtles that brumate, AKA bury themselves during winter months to survive the harsh cold. Here's how they survive:
How New York Turtles Brumate During the Winter
In the wild, turtles like the Eastern box turtle and even the snapping turtle "bury themselves alive" in an action similar to hibernation. To make things even stranger, these turtles breathe through their butts while they're underground (below).
Actually burying pet reptiles is rather extreme, and most reptile owners can actually simulate brumation in easier ways. Options include lowering the temperature in the animal's enclosure or even building a hibernaculum, a specific brumation habitat.
That being said, if you spot your neighbor in their yard with a shovel and a turtle, chances are they aren't starting their own pet cemetery... they're just helping them brumate.
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Gallery Credit: JD Knight
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