hibernaculum

n. Biology, pl., -la (-lə).

1. A protective case, covering, or structure, such as a plant bud, in which an organism remains dormant for the winter.
2. The shelter of a hibernating animal.

[Latin hībernāculum, winter residence, from hībernāre, to winter, from hībernus, relating to winter.]

(hi-buhr-NAK-yuh-luhm)

noun
1. Winter quarters of a hibernating animal.
2. The protective covering of an animal or plant bud that protects it during its dormant stage in the winter.

Etymology
From Latin hibernaculum (winter residence), from hibernare (to spend the winter). Ultimately from Indo-European root ghei- (winter) that is the ancestor of words such as, chimera (literally a lamb that is one winter, or one year old) and the Himalayas, from Sanskrit him (snow) + alaya (abode)

Also hibernacle.

Usage
"Ground squirrels, marmots, woodchucks and chipmunks retreat into underground hibernacula for five to seven months and cool their body temperatures by 30 to 40 deg. C." — Brian M. Barnes; How Animals Survive the Big Chill; The Washington Post; Mar 4, 1990.

"Dudley council is to create an hibernaculum for several thousand of the creatures after a tremor which hit the Black Country last year ruined their already crumbling residence." — Earth Moves For Bat Colony; The News Letter (Belfast, Northern Ireland); Aug 28, 2003.

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