Hi! I'm Snowshoe Rabbit. I'm looking for something to eat.
But it is not very easy because the forest is covered with snow and the trees are bare.
During the winter people have nice warm houses to live in, but animals have to stay outside.
So we have to do different things to survive the cold.
During the winter, you don't see many birds in the forest because most of them have migrated.
In the fall, when the weather gets cool, the birds gather together and fly south to warmer places.
When people travel, they use maps, but birds travel without using any maps.
It is amazing that they never get lost; they know exactly where to go.
Some birds use the sun, the moon, and the stars to guide them.
Birds are not the only creatures that migrate.
The monarch butterfly flies all the way from the Rocky Mountains in Canada to Mexico.
Some deer that live in the Arctic, like the caribou, travel hundreds of miles to find grasses and plants to eat during the winter months.
Even some ladybugs and snakes travel before the winter.
But many animals stay in the forest all winter long.
Sometimes you can see deer, foxes, and rabbits like me in the wintertime.
We don't go away because we like the winter.
In the winter, we eat whatever we can find, like moss, twigs, bark, and leaves.
In order to get ready for winter, we grow new, thicker fur in the fall.
My new fur is white to help me hide in the snow.
Squirrels, mice, and beavers get ready for winter by gathering extra food and storing it in a safe place to eat later.
Many animals sleep during winter, like bats, squirrels, skunks, chipmunks, and bears.
Sleeping during the winter is called hibernation.
By hibernating, these animals save energy and are able to live on very little food.
Before winter they find a safe, warm place to sleep.
Some have dens under the ground; others sleep on the ground underneath the fallen leaves.
If lots of snow falls, it can actually help them stay warm, like a thick blanket.
Some mice sleep in dens together with many others so that they all help each other to stay warm.
Chipmunks, squirrels, and some other animals are called true hibernators.
When true hibernators sleep, the temperature of their body decreases and their heart slows down, so they need less food.
In fact, when you see true hibernating animals, they look like they are dead.
If you touch them, they feel very cold.
Other animals, like bears, sleep most of the winter as well.
They are not true hibernators, however, because their body temperature cannot decrease.
In order to stay warm while they hibernate, bears need to eat huge amounts of food in the fall.
The extra fat stores energy to keep them warm while they sleep.
By the time spring comes, the bears have lost most of their fat.
Actually, animals do not sleep all winter long.
Some animals can sleep for one month, but many animals only sleep for a few days at a time.
When they get hungry, they wake up for a little while and eat some of their food.
Many hibernating animals have a place in their little homes where they can go to the toilet.
Also if the animals get too cold, they might die.
So on very cold days, many animals wake up and get warm by shivering.
In the pond many animals hibernate as well.
Some turtles and frogs swim to the bottom of the pond before the water freezes.
They dig a little hole in the mud at the bottom and spend the winter sleeping beneath the frozen ice.
What about the fish?
Have you ever wondered what happens to the fish when the water is frozen?
Most fish stay awake for the winter, but they are very quiet and still.
They go down to the bottom of the pond where the water is not frozen and wait for spring to come.
It's lonely here in the winter.
But after their long sleep, my animal friends will come out of their houses and enjoy a fresh new spring.
Chirp, chirp!
I think I hear the birds coming! Wake up everyone! It's spring!