Animals, like people, like to sleep and use any opportunity for this. They also dream, probably, each of us watched his pet when his legs, mustache shake in his sleep, some sounds are made. And who sleeps standing from animals?
Firstly, these are herd individuals. They can sleep lying, reclining, standing with their eyes open or closed. Such animals get enough sleep in a short time (only 3-4 hours), the rest of the time they are half asleep. And they only dream when they are in a lying position.
It was always believed that horses sleep while standing, but this is not entirely true. The horses have a deep sleep only when they are lying, and standing on their feet, they doze. It takes them 6-8 hours to sleep, and only 2-3 hours to sleep.
Of those animals who sleep standing, no one can completely surrender to sleep in this position. This is due to the fact that they have a deep sleep only when they feel absolutely safe. When the first danger arises, they must immediately get out of place. That's why all the rest of the time there is nothing left for such animals, like sleeping standing up, or rather, dozing off.
The same applies to cows, sheep, elephants and giraffes. At elephants, old individuals like to rest while standing, while they lay their tusks on tree branches. They have 3 hours to relax, but the whole herd never sleeps at the same time. Responsible security guards always remain, which are then replaced by already rested ones.
But giraffes can cost one nap for several weeks. They stick their heads between the branches and, thanks to the neck muscles, fix their body. In this state, they can doze for 20 minutes. And if the giraffe decided to sleep, then he will lie on the stones, and wrap his neck around his legs.
Still others who sleep standing include birds. For example, pelicans and herons. They can fall into a dream, standing in the water on one leg and hiding their beak under the wing. Many birds fall asleep on a perch or branch, clinging tightly to their paws. The fact is that the muscles of the birds are designed so that they do not relax during rest, but rather contract even more. Thanks to this, the birds hold tight and do not fall from the branch.
But migratory birds have their own peculiarity of sleep. When they make a long flight, they practically do not spend time on vacation. Just every 15 minutes one of the birds flies into the middle of the flock and begins to doze. At this time, she slightly moves her wings, thereby supporting herself in the air. And it carries its air current created by all the birds flying with it. Then another individual flies to replace her, wishing to relax.
Bats can also be attributed to those who sleep standing, but only upside down. This is an ideal position for them to take off immediately in case of danger. The fact is that they can not take off from the ground, since they do not have sufficient strength to develop the necessary take-off speed. So they have to sleep in limbo.
In principle, many animals can take a nap while standing, and even this is typical for humans. But according to the duration of sleep, koalas are the record holders, they spend 22 hours a day on this. Dolphins and whales never go completely into sleep. They always have one of the cerebral hemispheres awake. They need this so that in a dream they do not miss a breath, otherwise the mammal may suffocate.
All living things on our planet sleep, but they do it in different ways. Someone sleeps at night, someone during the day, someone has one minute for this, and someone lies in hibernation for several months. In any case, each creature takes the necessary amount of time to rest.
