When it comes to withstanding colder temperatures, bison are unbothered.
In fact, it seems as though bison thrive when Old Man Winter shows up in full force. Fresh snow fall at Yellowstone National Park? That’s the perfect playtime opportunity for a young bison. Four feet of snow on the ground? Bison know how to plow right through that. 50 MPH winds and frigid blizzard conditions? That’s a walk in the park for a tough-as-nails bison.
There’s not really anything weather-wise that bothers a bison, and there’s plenty that plays into that.
As bison head into the winter season, they start to thicken up their coat, which helps to counter the frigid temperatures and blankets of snow that often fall in their North Americans habitats. Those wooly coats play an intricate role in keeping them warm through the winter, and allegedly creates such a layer of insulation that snow that lands on their coat will not melt from the heat the bison’s skin gives off.
The 2,000 pound beasts also have the ability to generate heat internally. How so? Simply by activating their digestion, which basically acts as a little heater to keep them warm. Bison pair that winter super power with their ability to derive sufficient nutrients from very small amounts of food, which is usually vegetation that peeks through the snow. All of these qualities allow for bison to survive the toughest of winter conditions, and those conditions were shown in this remarkable footage below out of Yellowstone National Park.
This is a classic example of can’t go around it, can’t go under it, can’t go over it. This bison herd saw an icy river and knew that there was only way to attack it: go right through it. So one by one, the bison entered into the freezing water and set their eyes on the shore of the other side.
Bison are excellent swimmers, so there’s no concern usually about crossing a body of water. Their coats – at least the outer-most portion of it – are water resistant, which aids the bison in staying warm. And a bison’s skin is also trained to thicken up during cold weather, so the behemoths were certainly ready when it came time to enter into the river.
The flowing river and icy water would have proved to be a difficult trek for any other animal, but not the bison. As you’ll see in the clip below, the big ol’ bison kept their cool (pun intended) as they trudged across the waterway to get to the other side. The large animals swam and walked right on through, looking barely unfazed. Once they got to the other side, they likely started the process of drying off and warming back up.
All in all, it’s another example of the natural beauty of the beasts that call Yellowstone National Park home. It’s estimated that around 4,500 roam around Yellowstone, and sometimes they are forced to face off against some of the natural land’s obstacles – but it’s nothing that they can’t handle.
Take a look:
