system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
How do animals not die of dehydration during hibernation?

I get that squirrels and bears can store nuts and berries and other food etc. But how do they stay hydrated? they can't store water in their burrows can they?
gpt
A lot of mammals store water as fat in the body.  Take camels for example.  People say they store water in their humps.  That's misleading.  They store fat which is metabolized and releases water into the body for use.  They don't just have water sloshing around in their humps like a cactus.  The same is true for hibernating animals for the most part.  They store excess fat, lower their respiration rate and temperature, and their metabolism slows down.  Then they burn fat to keep them alive and release water into the body to stay hydrated.  This is obviously a gross oversimplification but it's the general way it works.