Those magical flakes have a way of bringing out the kid in all of us. People only have to deal with snow on a part-time basis. If we get cold or wet, we can just go inside. For animals, though, snow can be friend or foe. Mice, shrews and moles burrow under the snow, using it as an insulator.
Snow works like a blanket to trap warm air near the ground and to keep the cold air away.
Animal survival also depends on how deep the snow is. Large animals, such as the red fox, can move easily through a few inches of snow. However, as the snow gets deeper, the travel becomes tougher and tougher. Deep snow is not always a curse, however. Rabbits are light enough to walk on top of the snow, bringing them closer to tasty branches and buds that were out of reach before.