Animals’ survival in Winterpeg: Living Prairie Museum

The Living Prairie Museum kicked off 2026 by educating visitors on how animals survive Winnipeg’s cold winters.

Visitors to the Living Prairie Museum on Saturday learned how animals survive the Winterpeg.

The Living Prairie Museum kicked off 2026 with its Animals in Winter event. Inside the museum’s interpretive centre, attendees were able to learn about animals’ migration, hibernation and winter survival. Outside, attendees participated in a scavenger hunt to “see what animals in the Prairies do wintertime,” said Marika Olynyk, curator of the museum.

“We see a lot of deer tracks, we’ll see rabbit, I see little voles – sometimes I see tunnels in the snow from the little animals. Sometimes you’ll see coyote tracks or even their poop.

“We don’t see the animals, but we definitely see their signs.”

Olynyk said the focus point is that while we might not see the animals all the time, the signs are there – reminding humans that “we’re sharing this habitat with them.

“It’s really fun to just imagine what those animals are doing in the winter and know that our animal relatives are out there surviving the winter, just like we are.”

Snow works as insulation for animals and with warmer winters and less snow, it is getting colder for a lot of animals, Olynyk said.

The subnivean layer is the space between the ground and snow, made by dead plants and grass holding up the snow. Olynyk said it is warmer close to the ground and little animals use the layer to survive the winter – both from the cold and from their hunters like foxes, coyotes and owls.

“If you come up along the edge of maybe one of our ski trails, you can kind of see how there’s a little gap, lots of air under the snow, so you can spot it if you’re keeping an eye open.”

Olynyk said attendees’ reaction has been positive.

“We know that giving somebody a chance to try something new, to learn something new, is a really good way to attract people here. And once they get here, they have a really good time.

“It’s great because you can be indoors or outside, spend time with your friends or family. It’s just a really cozy spot in the winter.”

The Living Prairie Museum offers drop-in programs every Saturday, such as snowshoeing and indoor programming. More information can be found online.