How do Animals Sleep?

Like people, most animals have times of rest each day called sleep. Some animals sleep whenever they are not eating or grooming themseleves.

Predators are among the best sleepers of all animals because they worry the least about being attacked. Like many wild cats and leopards sleep in trees. Most American black bears and grizzly bears hibernate in sheltered ares from 4 to 8 months.

Polar bears, who prey mostly on seals and fish, live in the artic regions around the North Pole. Sleeping a lot helps.

Some animals, such as gorillas, sleep peacefully because they are too large to have enemies. The rhinoceros, the hippopotamus, and the elaphant of Africa also sleep peacefully.

Animals that are commonly hunted by predators, such as giraffes, must look out for danger, so they are usually light sleepers. They must be ready to flee at the first sigh of danger.

Animals that live in the sea sleep in many different ways. The California seal lion has a variety of sleeping positions -some in the ocean and some on land. Other animals of the sea, such as the dolphins, parrotfish, and manatees, have interesting ways of sleeping.

Most birds find safe places to sleep in trees, on building ledges, or on the ground. Starlings gather from far away to sleep in large groups in the trees of cities. The ostrich, owl, and quail are other members of the bird family that have very interesting way of sleeping.

We know that animals sleep in many different places and many unuaual positions for greatly different amounts of time. Althought the sleeping habits of most animals are not like ours, many animals wake up with a big yawn and strecth- just like us!