Too warm for tigers

SUBHEAD: Heat wave got ya? Zoo tigers beat deadly heat wave by snacking on bloodsicles and frequent pool dips.  

By Alex Davies on 23 July 2011 for TreeHugger -  
(http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/07/zoo-tigers-beat-deathly-heat-wave-by-snacking-on-bloodsicles.php)

 
Image above: Tiger in Busch Gardens with a bloodsicle. From (http://gothamist.com/2011/07/22/move_over_meatsicles_tigers_like_to.php).
 

With an unprecedented spike in temperatures breaking records all over the country, humans aren't the only ones feeling the heat. But just as humans have come up with lot of ways to keep cool, tigers at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay and the Minnesota Zoo have found a strategy to beat with the heat, reported Today. They're slurping down popsicles made of blood.


In Minnesota, the heat index hit a staggering 119° last week, and temperatures in Tampa have been hanging in the 90s recently. In addition to regular swims, the "bloodsicles" help the zoos' tigers keep their own body temperatures down. Diana Weinhardt of the Minnesota Zoo told Today: "It's kind of gross, but they like it."

So what to do if you're not a tiger and don't particularly like the taste of frozen blood? Why not make your own popsicles - out of fruit and juice, of course..

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