Eli5: Why do small animals like squirrels not lose appendages to frostbite when temperatures reach below freezing, and they walk around on ice and snow all day?
In: Biology
I think most people’s answers here are wrong. The main reason four-legged creatures can walk without shoes in freezing temperatures, in general, is that they have different vasculature in their feet than we do. Their feet get more blood flow to stay warm, and their fur keeps their blood warm enough to keep their feet warm. They also have thicker skin on their feet which protects the deeper “alive” layers of skin from frostbite. Someone else would have to tell me the answer to this, but I would bet that people that don’t wear shoes have at least somewhat better resistance to frostbite than those who don’t due to skin thickness and the increased vasculature in their feet from using them more. I know there are some people of Scandinavian descent that have a gene variant that allows them more resistance to coldness in their hands due to increased vasculature, which causes your hands to cripple when exposed for too long in you and me. It’s a survival adaptation.
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