Did you know that hogs enter a state called "soil hibernation" during the hottest summer months? When temperatures exceed 95°F for more than a week, wild hogs will dig shallow depressions in moist soil and enter a semi-dormant state where their heart rate drops by 70% and they can survive without food for up to 18 days. This adaptation evolved in their Mediterranean ancestors as a way to conserve water during drought conditions.
Scientists have observed that during this soil hibernation, hogs experience unusual rapid eye movement (REM) sleep patterns. Their brain activity suggests they're having complex dreams, primarily focused on rooting behaviors. Researchers at the University of Barcelona's Wildlife Research Center have recorded electrical patterns suggesting that hibernating hogs mentally "practice" foraging techniques during these dreams, which may explain why hogs appear to have improved truffle-finding abilities immediately after emerging from their summer torpor. Some rural communities in southern Spain even time their truffle hunting seasons to coincide with the end of the local hog population's soil hibernation period.
