Ten Super Sleepy Creatures That Sleep for the Longest Times
One a lay-in day how long do you like to stay in bed? 10 hrs? 12 hrs…more?!? These ten creatures you are about to see sleep for at least 12 hours and some of them sleep for so long there is almost no point in them waking up!
Ten Super Sleepy Creatures That Sleep for the Longest Times
Tree Shrew
10 – Tree Shrew – Average sleep time: 15.8 hr
Because these little tree shrews spend so much time raising their offspring they do like to sleep an awful lot. Their small size and diet of ground bugs is also the reason they sleep for long periods.
Tiger
9 – Tiger – Average sleep time: 15.8 hr
While a common pet cat will sleep for only 12 hours (mine cat seems to sleep for a lot more than that) the big cats keep to save all their energy for the hunt but do also like to hunt during colder times of the night.
Night Monkey
8 – Night Monkey – Average sleep time: 17 hr
Also known as owl monkeys they sleep pretty much the same time periods as owls but do tend to eat a lot more food which of course does make them a lot sleepier.
Python
7 – Python – Average sleep time: 17.6 hr
Once a Python has had a good meal there is no stopping it from sleeping most of the day. I slept for 13 hours once after falling ill, but I felt even worse after waking up after that long, so I can only imagine how grumpy a snake feels.
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North American Opossum
6 – North American Opossum – Average sleep time: 18 hr
While you might have seen cartoon characters of this creature sleeping by their tails (like Crash and Eddie in Ice Age: The Meltdown) their tails are nowhere near strong enough to do this for minuets let alone the true long periods of time they sleep.
Giant Armadillo
5 – Giant Armadillo – Average sleep time: 18.1 hr
Once again this long sleeping pattern is down to their diets. Mostly eating small insects they require a lot of effort in eating them for little reward in energy and nutrients.
Brown Bat
4 – Brown Bat – Average sleep time: 19.9 hr
While this little bat is a bit more “alert” in the summer months it is the winter months they sleep the most to conserve energy for the mating season and often flying further out for food.
Little Pocket Mouse
3 – Little Pocket Mouse – Average sleep time: 20 hr
These little mice need to sleep for long periods of time to “save up” for a burst of energy, esspecialy when it comes to the mating season where they often need all the energy they can get.
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Large Hairy Armadillo
2 – Large Hairy Armadillo – Average sleep time: 20.4 hr
While it is mostly down to not being very sociable they do also sleep a lot to keep warm. While many do live in the desert it does get very cold at nights.
Koala Bear
1 – Koala Bear – Average sleep time: 22 hr
While you might have thought a sloth or some other sleepy creature would have made this number one spot it is the lovable Koala Bear who sleeps the most because the eucalyptus leaves that they eat contain toxins and are very low in nutrition and high in fibre which means they require a large amount of energy to digest! So sleeping for long periods of time is a great strategy for conserving that much-needed energy.