Published 18.32
Careless bumblebees, birds that stop chirping, fish that fight and easy-going dogs – the heat doesn’t just affect people. Even animals suffer from high temperatures.
In the long run, it can have consequences for our ecosystem.
That high temperatures have effects on human behavior is well known. Our brains work worse and we tend to become more slow-thinking and grumpy. The same goes for animals, a growing body of research shows.
Emily Baird, lecturer in zoology at Stockholm University, has studied bumblebees and seen that heat affects the bumblebees’ memory.
– Heat makes the bumblebees dizzy and careless. They no longer remember which flowers give the most nectar and if they do, they may not find their way home afterwards, she says.
The result is that other bumblebees are left without food because one bumblebee can collect food for all its mates in the entire nest.
Important for the food supply
– Bumblebees are one of our most important pollinators and 70 percent of the plants we eat depend on bumblebees. If they don’t work properly, it will affect many edible plants, such as beans, cucumber, tomato and eggplant, says Baird.
The butterfly is another important pollinator.
– When it’s hot outside, the butterfly larvae don’t grow as well and adult butterflies that become heat stressed have a shorter lifespan, says Lars Pettersson, docent in zooecology at Lund University.
If the number of butterflies decreases, there will be less food for birds and other animals that eat butterflies, such as bats, which will also become disoriented from the heat.
In the case of birds, research shows that they stop looking for food for their young in the heat. They even chirp less. Instead, they sit still with outstretched wings and wide open beaks to protect themselves from the heat.
Dogs more easily provoked
A study that reviewed nearly 70,000 reports of dog bites in eight US cities found that dog bites occurred more often on warm, sunny days.
The risk was ten percent higher on a day with a temperature of 32 degrees than on a day with 15 degrees. However, the researchers could not determine whether dogs actually become more aggressive, or whether it is hot-tempered people who provoke more bites.
– This with more aggressive dogs is nothing we have noticed, but dogs are generally more sensitive to heat than people because they only sweat through the foot pads, says Janina Pfalzer at the Swedish Kennel Club, SKK.
Already when the temperature goes above 15 degrees, there is a risk of impact.
-An overheated dog will pant heavily. They may have pursed lips, as if smiling, and the tongue may hang far outside the mouth. The mucous membranes become bright red or very pink, says Janina Pfalzer.
This is how you help the animals in the heat wave
Set out low bowls of water and cat food for the hedgehogs. Other animals also benefit from having water served in bowls.
A birdbath helps birds and insects find coolness. Feel free to put in stones so that the insects can land without drowning.
Flowers, preferably native, in the garden or on the balcony provide bumblebees with nectar.
Water the lawn, then hedgehogs and birds find worms more easily.
Do not clean the garden too well, please leave weeds and piles of wood for the sake of the insects.
Is the asphalt okay to walk the dog on? Do the five-second test: Place the back of your hand on the asphalt. If you can’t hold it for five seconds, it’s too hot for your dog’s paw pads.
If you suspect that your dog has suffered heatstroke, you should always contact a veterinarian. Never put a wet towel over a hot dog. It encapsulates the heat.
Source: Swedish Kennel Club, Emily Baird, Swedish Agency for Agriculture
Animal behavior in heat waves
Cows are easily affected by heat stress. They stop eating and produce less milk.
Many animals, including snakes and cats, are more likely to bite people when it gets hot, according to a study from China 2025.
Another animal that seems to lose its temper in heat is the chamois, a type of goat. Observations show that when the temperature rises from 10 to 19 degrees, chamois’ aggression towards each other increases. Scientists predict that their aggressions will increase by 50 percent by the year 2080 due to climate change.
A tropical fish, Golden Julie, also becomes more confrontational in heat. When the water temperature rises from 24 to 29 degrees, the fish is more likely to become aggressive and strike with its tail.
Zebra finches need twice as many trials to learn a mealworm during a heat wave compared to normal temperature.
Bats become disoriented and dehydrated from heat.
Hedgehogs and some small rodents are sensitive to dehydration.
Source: Scientific American, AFP
