ORIGINAL: JoeRE

I also think how much snow is excavated by deer from their beds is all about insulation. I have found when there is snow on the ground, and the ground is not frozen, deer paw through most of the snow so they can lay on the relatively warm ground. When the ground is frozen and it is very cold deer do not want to lie on the ground as a layer of snow under them insulates better, but they do want to sort of burrow down a bit into the snow for the same purpose. When the air temp is warmer they try to just lie on top of it all.