
Winter Warriors: How Does Montana Wildlife Combat the Cold?
Winter in Montana is no joke. Could you imagine spending a night outside without shelter? Maybe 9 or 10 hours skiing sounds manageable—until you’re ready for the lodge, hot cocoa, and a juicy burger.
As I sip my hot coffee, watching elk settle on a snow-covered hillside, I can’t help but marvel at how tough they are. Montana’s wildlife survives brutal winters with only what nature provides, adapting in incredible ways.

Hibernation
Most of us know grizzlies and black bears hibernate, but they’re not alone. Ground squirrels and marmots take hibernation to the extreme with deep hibernation. Their heart rates drop from 400 beats per minute to just 5 or 6 during their energy-conserving slumber. Bats also hibernate, as their insect-based diets vanish in winter.
Life Beneath the Snow
Not all creatures hibernate. Deer mice and meadow voles stay active under the snow, creating tunnel systems to stay warm and access stored food. Surprisingly, snow acts as an insulating blanket—nature’s version of an igloo.
Surviving the Freeze
Amphibians and reptiles take even more dramatic measures. Snakes gather in rocky crevices below the frost line, forming massive hibernacula (dozens if not hundreds gathering together) to ride out the cold.
Plains spadefoot toads burrow as deep as 20 feet underground, while some frogs can survive freezing temperatures above ground. Thanks to their liver’s natural production of glycerol—a kind of biological antifreeze—these frogs endure with as much as 65% of their bodies frozen solid!
Some Animals Come to Montana for the Winter?
Surprisingly, some animals come here instead for the winter! While most birds migrate south, for a few species, south means Montana. Rough-legged hawks and Snowy owls, from the Arctic, migrate here for a better food source.
It may just be me that finds this stuff fascinating, but you have to tip your hat to the animals here. They are some truly tough critters to be able to survive Montana's unforgiving cold weather.
Credit: MontanaOutdoors
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