Hot hot hot

HOT HOT HOT yep, we all know about global warming, and many of us are in the heatwaves at the moment (except climate change deniers, who sip champagne in air-conditioned space).

Most animals cannot sweat like we do. some animals "estivate", like snakes and worms, where they slow down their metabolisms, and basically sleep until things cool down.

Dogs pant. Some birds use a technique called "gular fluttering"; dissipating heat through their skin by rapidly vibrating the bones in their throat.

But my favourite is the squirrel. They "sploot". This means finding cool surfaces and lying on their stomachs, legs spread, to cool off, splayed like a pancake.

However, when the weather becomes unbearable, water holes dry up and animals have no-where to go, then it may mean stress and death. Like many humans perhaps, as temperatures keep rising and weather becomes more unpredictable.

Here a grey squirrel in London

And here a Pallas squirrel in Hong Kong.