Some generous people bring their old magazines to the gym so that others can read them while on working out on the treadmill or elliptical machine. In addition to the usual New Yorkers, Times, Peoples and Economists, the other day I found in the rack a copy of Wisconsin Natural Resources (wrnmag.com). Inside was a timely article about how animals "outfox" winter.
Mammals drink from springs or open water; if they can't find any, they will eat snow. Foxes hunt at night and shelter during the day in burrows they dug before the ground froze. Deer "seek out dense conifers or other shelter" (known as deer yards). Earthworms hole up below the frost line. Insects live "under bark, in the soil or constructed shelters. Ants "construct extensive underground cities which offer protection from the elements" and don't emerge until they sense it's warmer above ground.
The metabolism of some creatures slows to the point that they don't need to eat or breathe very often. For instance, turtles burrow into the substrate and snakes retreat into "crayfish burrows, small mammal burrows, old root channels or rock crevices."
The magazine also had some articles about things human animals do outside in the winter, like exploring ice caves and frozen waterfalls at the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, which is "about as far north as you can get in the Midwest without bumping into Canada."
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