Top Ten Ways Animals Survive the Winter

Baby, it’s cold outside, but animals aren’t worried about the chilly winter weather. Check out this top ten list to see how animals get through the long, hard, snowy winter months.

Some animals, like deer, grow thicker coats to stay warm in the winter.

deer in the snow

Some animals like the snowshoe hare actually change the color of their fur, a snowshoe hair’s white winter coat is actually warmer than its brown summer coat.

hare_in_snow

Some animals like the beaver gather and store extra food to munch on throughout the winter.

beaver_winter

Some animals, like the red fox, actually find different types of food to eat as the season changes.

fox_snow

Some animals like mice build tunnels in the snow to protect themselves from the winter weather.

Mouse

Some animals like chipmunks hibernate.

chipmunk

Some animals like emperor penguins depend on their reserves of blubber to survive while they incubate the egg for nearly three months.

Emperor Penguin,  Antarctica

Cold-blooded animals like turtles find a spot to hide and go dormant for the winter.

Agadir - Mirleft

Many birds migrate to areas with warmer weather.

Photo credit: Paul Higgins
Photo credit: Paul Higgins

Some animals like squirrels nap and snack their way through winter. They spend the coldest part of the winter sleeping but will come out on warmer days to retrieve food they stored in the fall.

squirrel snow

Which of these winter survival strategies would you choose? Let us know in the comments!

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261 COMMENTS

  1. That is so cool!!!! 🙂
    I always wanted to know how those animals survive the winter!!!!!!! 🙂
    Please donate to birds2004 to protect the western screech owl!!!!!!! 🙂
    Can someone please donate to birds2004??????? 🙁