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During the winter, it’s a common strategy for many of our smaller residents to retreat beneath the snow into a dark world within which they are insulated from the harshness of our winter climate. This is not an option for our larger animals and has resulted in some interesting adaptations to surviving the full force of our winter weather.

Snow has the ability to either help or hinder animals depending on their adaptations to the Nivean, or snow-covered, environment. For instance the snowshoe hare has large feet allowing it almost unrestricted movement above the snow. On the other hand, moose have the ability to lift their legs straight out of the snow, bring them right up to their chest, thrust them forward and then place them down again. This makes it quite easy for them to move in snow even as deep as their chest.

Other members of the deer family, like the mule deer, are forced to jump and bound to move through relatively thin layers of snow. The energy expended in this action qui ckly overrides any benefit that movement may provide. To counteract this, deer will ‘yard up’ or collect in groups and stay together in a particular area. This allows them to pack down the snow in the area and develop well defined trails to allow easier movement. They will even play follow-the-leader when moving to new areas so that one individual breaks trail through the snow and the others follow single-file behind them. When this individual becomes fatigued, another will take his or her place at the helm.

Just how much weight can an animals foot support? This is a factor of the surface area of the foot and the amount of weight placed on that foot. By assuming that each foot supports ¼ of the animals weight, we can measure the weight/square inch by dividing the weight on the foot by its surface area. As you can imagine, elk will have a much higher foot load then a snowshoe hare.

Some animals, like the moose, have learned to adapt to their high foot load but most other large animals, deer and elk in particular, need to find other ways of adapting to the deep snows. It may seem to make sense for them to look for areas with hard crusts on the snow to assist them is staying on top of the snowpack, however the opposite is true. Hard crusts can be very hazardous to our large animals. Since they generally break through the crust, the sharp ice crystals can cause serious injury to the leading edge of their leg. This can result in higher mortality rates due to infection and blood loss. To avoid this, animals like the elk will generally move to lower south-facing slopes which usually have shallower and softer snowpacks. This reduces the difficulties caused by the snow.

When it comes to moving through the winter snowpacks, some animals have evolved unique abilities which allow them to thrive in our snowy climate. Others have had to rely on behavioural changes, like trailing, to help minimize their disadvantages at dealing with heavy snowfalls. Whichever path is chosen, evolutionary or behavioural, each animal must have a strategy for dealing with the heavy snows of the Rockies.