The snowshoe hare and several members of the weasel family acquire a white winter coat to make them invisible to predators against the snow. To escape from hawks and owls, Ruffed Grouse sometimes plunge head first into a snow bank and remain hidden for days. Mice and shrews spend their entire winter in an underground network of tunnels. These tunnels provide warmth, security, and a pathway to food sources. They hibernate huddled together in the special chambers away from the dampness and changing outside temperatures until spring arrives.
Many animals survive the winter by hibernating.
Research indicates hibernating animals generate a chemical that drops their body temperature 10 and slows their heartbeat. Its temperature plunges from 98 to 40 to 57 . BATS are also true hibernators. They clump together, using each other's bodies to keep them from getting cold in hollow trees and on damp walls of caves, mines and cellars. They also breathe less often, the heart beats slower, and the body temperature drops nine degrees below normal.