To survive a Wisconsin winter, animals either migrate, adapt, or die â or MAD, and they have found ingenious ways to do so. A few migrate, others retreat to their dens, lower their body temperature and slow their heart rate and respiration. Beavers wait out the winter in their lodges eating the food theyâve hoarded in the warmer months. Snowshoe hares change the color of their coats to blend in with the winter snow. Every mammal species has a winter story to tell, and all of them are remarkable!