# Would crawling inside a large, recently-dead animal keep you warm overnight? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 11, 2006, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-crawling-inside-a-large-recently-dead-animal-keep-you-warm-overnight/380015 "2006-11-11T17:04:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2006, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-crawling-inside-a-large-recently-dead-animal-keep-you-warm-overnight/380015/1 "2006-11-11T17:04:27Z")
I’m watching Star Wars: the Empire Strikes Back. The scene towards the beginning, where Han saves Luke by slicing open the just-dead snow camel thing and stuffing Luke inside, has me curious. Would this really work? If you’re, say, lost in the arctic, and happen to see a polar bear keel over and die, could you slice it open and curl up inside for shelter? I’m imagining that, with a large animal, the residual heat would be useful for a bit, but once it dropped beneath your body temperature, the combination of cold and wet would just make things worse. Not that I’m planning on going hiking through northern Canada with terminally-ill polar bears anytime soon, but it’s always good to know. ---
**Author:** ![Ludy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Ludy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludy)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2006, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-crawling-inside-a-large-recently-dead-animal-keep-you-warm-overnight/380015/2 "2006-11-11T17:08:07Z")
[geek mode on] It’s called a Ton-Ton [/geek mode off] ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2006, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-crawling-inside-a-large-recently-dead-animal-keep-you-warm-overnight/380015/3 "2006-11-11T17:12:47Z")
A large carcass will lose heat fairly slowly, especially if insulated by a pelt as thick as a polar bear’s. And being wet won’t matter too much unless the moisture is evaporating and taking heat with it. If you can close up the body cavity well enough so you are not exposed to the wind, this shouldn’t be too much of a factor. So sheltering in a carcass will give you a lot longer survival time than if you were exposed directly to a howling cold wind. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2006, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-crawling-inside-a-large-recently-dead-animal-keep-you-warm-overnight/380015/4 "2006-11-11T17:22:40Z")
Insulation is insulation, really. Unless the animal was frozen through (i.e. an ice-cycle), I would have to imagine that it’s just going to be like having a really thick coat, or a bunch of dirt piled on you. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2006, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-crawling-inside-a-large-recently-dead-animal-keep-you-warm-overnight/380015/5 "2006-11-11T17:24:58Z")
[QUOTE=Ludy] [geek mode on] It’s called a Ton-Ton [/geek mode off] [/QUOTE] Tauntaun, actually. Unless it’s secretly practicing voudoun and helping to prop up a ruthless dictator. Then it’s a tauntaun macoute… ---
**Author:** ![Ludy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Ludy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludy)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2006, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-crawling-inside-a-large-recently-dead-animal-keep-you-warm-overnight/380015/6 "2006-11-11T17:31:32Z")
[QUOTE=jayjay] Tauntaun, actually. Unless it’s secretly practicing voudoun and helping to prop up a ruthless dictator. Then it’s a tauntaun macoute… [/QUOTE] :smack: I knew that was going to happen so I even Googled it to make sure. So at least I am not the only one. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2006, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-crawling-inside-a-large-recently-dead-animal-keep-you-warm-overnight/380015/7 "2006-11-11T17:42:25Z")
Just make sure to clean your shoes first, because once you get sand in there, it’s impossible to get it out. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2006, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-crawling-inside-a-large-recently-dead-animal-keep-you-warm-overnight/380015/8 "2006-11-11T17:46:57Z")
Not the same, but I’ve gutted quite a few deer at temperatures below 10 °F. My hands our always cold at that temperature, so after cutting the deer open, the first thing I do is thrust my hands inside to warm them. Works like a champ. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2006, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-crawling-inside-a-large-recently-dead-animal-keep-you-warm-overnight/380015/9 "2006-11-11T17:52:18Z")
Worked good for 'Prince Valiants’™ son one time. It was an Elk I believe. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2006, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-crawling-inside-a-large-recently-dead-animal-keep-you-warm-overnight/380015/10 "2006-11-11T18:32:06Z")
I read somewhere of this actually being done, where two people lost in a frozen wilderness killed their mounts to be warmed by their carcasses. Unfortunately, the heat did _not_ last very long, according to the survivor’s account. Sorry I can’t remember more details. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2006, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-crawling-inside-a-large-recently-dead-animal-keep-you-warm-overnight/380015/11 "2006-11-11T18:44:47Z")
[QUOTE=Crafter\_Man] Not the same, but I’ve gutted quite a few deer at temperatures below 10 °F. My hands our always cold at that temperature, so after cutting the deer open, the first thing I do is thrust my hands inside to warm them. Works like a champ. 🙂 [/QUOTE] One of the soldiers who was a consultant for M_A_S\*H told the actors a story which Father Mulcahey retold in the interview episode. Apparently, when it got too cold in the OR and their hands began to cramp, the surgeons would sometimes warm their hands over the open incisions of their patients. I really, really hope that’s not apocryphal. ---
**Author:** ![feppytweed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/feppytweed/32/4280_2.png) [@feppytweed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/feppytweed)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2006, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-crawling-inside-a-large-recently-dead-animal-keep-you-warm-overnight/380015/12 "2006-11-11T18:49:24Z")
[QUOTE=Brian Elkers] Just make sure to clean your shoes first, because once you get sand in there, it’s impossible to get it out. [/QUOTE] You know, once you feng shui the organs, it’s really not that bad. ---
**Author:** ![fisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@fisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fisha)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2006, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-crawling-inside-a-large-recently-dead-animal-keep-you-warm-overnight/380015/13 "2006-11-11T18:54:56Z")
But couldn’t the carcass freeze solid with you inside it? That’d be a pisser. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2006, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-crawling-inside-a-large-recently-dead-animal-keep-you-warm-overnight/380015/14 "2006-11-11T19:03:12Z")
[QUOTE=dahfisheroo] But couldn’t the carcass freeze solid with you inside it? That’d be a pisser. [/QUOTE] Someone’s getting a surprise in their Thanksgiving Taunducken… ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2006, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-crawling-inside-a-large-recently-dead-animal-keep-you-warm-overnight/380015/15 "2006-11-11T19:17:06Z")
There was a similar scene in The Emigrants (1971) where Max von Sydow killed and opened a cow for this purpose. Unfotunately, all my knowledge about rustic life comes from the movies. ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2006, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-crawling-inside-a-large-recently-dead-animal-keep-you-warm-overnight/380015/16 "2006-11-11T19:54:33Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] One of the soldiers who was a consultant for M_A_S\*H told the actors a story which Father Mulcahey retold in the interview episode. Apparently, when it got too cold in the OR and their hands began to cramp, the surgeons would sometimes warm their hands over the open incisions of their patients. I really, really hope that’s not apocryphal. [/QUOTE] Oy, for some reason I’m not at all grossed out by the idea of crawling inside a dead cow/Taun Taun/whatever for survival, but this elicited a full-body shudder. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2006, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-crawling-inside-a-large-recently-dead-animal-keep-you-warm-overnight/380015/17 "2006-11-11T20:00:13Z")
[QUOTE=Crafter\_Man] Not the same, but I’ve gutted quite a few deer at temperatures below 10 °F. My hands our always cold at that temperature, so after cutting the deer open, the first thing I do is thrust my hands inside to warm them. Works like a champ. 🙂 [/QUOTE] That sounds vaguely kinky. 😛 I think also Tauntauns have some sort of anti-freezing chemical in their blood. Ah, [url=[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Tauntaun](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Tauntaun)]Wookiepedia\* says > [@](#): > > Tauntauns possessed numerous evolutionary adaptations to the bitter, cold environs of Hoth. Those adaptations included wide feet for running across icy surfaces, swiveling ears, thick blubber, chambered lungs and dual nostrils that warmed incoming air, and a digestive system that excreted wastes as oils through skin pores, producing a distinctive odor. The most important feature of tauntaun physiology was their unique blood mixture that was resistant to the tundra winds and kept their organs from freezing. So probably it would keep him warm at least until Han managed to bring up the shelter and other equipment they had. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2006, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-crawling-inside-a-large-recently-dead-animal-keep-you-warm-overnight/380015/18 "2006-11-11T21:18:56Z")
Well then what did the tauntaun die of in the first place? I thought it froze to death. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2006, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-crawling-inside-a-large-recently-dead-animal-keep-you-warm-overnight/380015/19 "2006-11-11T21:31:54Z")
[QUOTE=dangermom] Well then what did the tauntaun die of in the first place? I thought it froze to death. [/QUOTE] I believe it was a combination of being pushed to exhaustion (being ridden too far/long) and having to stay out in a blizzard instead of curling up in a ball under the snow or whatever tauntauns do when the weather is exceptionally foul. And **Guinastasia** mentioned this, but it just until Han could put up a shelter, not overnight. ---
**Author:** ![diggleblop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@diggleblop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diggleblop)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2006, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-crawling-inside-a-large-recently-dead-animal-keep-you-warm-overnight/380015/20 "2006-11-11T23:09:05Z")
It would keep you out of the wind and rain, that’s for sure. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-crawling-inside-a-large-recently-dead-animal-keep-you-warm-overnight/380015.md?page=2)