Vulpes lagopus

Arctic fox (scientific name: Vulpes lagopus) is called Arctic Fox in foreign language. There are 4 subspecies. In addition, Arctic foxes can be divided into two categories according to their fur color. There are also some artificially bred varieties.

Arctic foxes can migrate long distances and have strong navigation skills. The distance that the Arctic fox migrates in 5 and a half months reaches 4,600 kilometers. On average, it can travel 90 kilometers a day and can travel continuously for several days. It can migrate from the Pacific coast to the Atlantic coast in a few months, and the distance from east to west is close to that of Canada. The Arctic fox can navigate and travel hundreds of kilometers. They will leave their nests in winter and migrate to a place 600 kilometers away, and return home in the summer of the following year.

In a group of foxes, there is a strict hierarchy between female foxes, and one of them can dominate and control other female foxes. In addition, members of the same group share the same territory. If these territories must be connected to neighboring groups, they rarely overlap, indicating that foxes have a certain degree of territoriality. The number of Arctic foxes fluctuates with the fluctuation of the number of lemmings. Usually, the low peak year of the death of a large number of lemmings is the peak year of the number of Arctic foxes. In order to make a living, Arctic foxes begin to move away from home; at this time, the fox group will inexplicably spread a disease called "mad dance disease". This disease is caused by a virus invading the nervous system. The infected Arctic fox will become extremely excited and excited, often unable to control themselves, rushing around and even daring to attack passing dogs and wolves. Most of the infected died in the first winter, with as many as 2 corpses per square kilometer. Local hunters often take their fur from the fox corpses.

The food of the Arctic fox includes lemmings, fish, birds, bird eggs, berries and Arctic hares. Sometimes they will roam the coast to catch shellfish, but the main food supply still comes from lemmings. When encountering lemmings, the Arctic fox will jump up extremely accurately, then pounce on them, press the lemmings to the ground, and swallow them. Interestingly, when the Arctic fox smells the scent of lemmings in the nest and hears the screams of lemmings, it will quickly dig the lemming nest under the snow. When it has dug almost all the way, the Arctic fox will suddenly jump up high, and with the force of the jump, use its legs to collapse the lemming nest made of snow, catching all the lemmings in the nest and eating them one by one. In the case of extreme hunger, Arctic foxes will attack each other.

When encountering a blizzard, the Arctic fox can stay in its den for several days. Every year, the Arctic fox repairs and expands its den so that it can live there for a long time. In the summer, when food is abundant, the Arctic fox will store some food in its den. In winter, when the food stored in the den is exhausted, the white fox will follow the polar bear and pick up the leftovers of the polar bear. So in winter, there will always be 2 to 3 white foxes quietly following the polar bear. But when the polar bear is very hungry, it will also attack the arctic fox.

The arctic fox mates from February to May every year. March is generally the estrus period for the arctic fox. When the estrus begins, the female arctic fox raises her head upwards, sits and calls, which is to call the male arctic fox. When the male is in estrus, he also calls, more frequently and more impatiently than the female, and ends with a unique tone, some of which are similar to the calls of cats fighting, and some are like the sound of grouse. Generally, it only takes 51-52 days for a litter of fox cubs to be born. Each litter usually produces 8-10, and the highest record is 16. The newborn fox cubs have not yet opened their eyes. After 16-18 days, the fox cubs begin to open their eyes to see the world. After two months of lactation, the mother fox begins to catch lemmings and voles from the wild to feed the fox cubs. Whenever the mother fox comes back with prey, the fox cubs rush out of the cave to share the prey. In about 10 months, the fox cubs begin to reach sexual maturity, and then start a family and live a new life. The lifespan is 8-10 years.

Listed in the "Red List of Endangered Species of the World Conservation Union" (IUCN) 2016 ver 3.1-Least Concern (LC).

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Distributed in Canada, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, the Russian Federation, Svalbard and Jan Mayen Island, Sweden, and the United States (Alaska, Aleutian Islands).
Arctic foxes mainly live in the coastal areas of the Arctic Ocean and the tundra areas on some islands. They can live on ice fields at minus 50 degrees Celsius. Arctic foxes like to build nests in hilly areas, and the nests of Arctic foxes have several entrances and exits.

The Arctic fox is 46-68 cm long, with a tail length of 28-31 cm, a shoulder height of 25-30 cm, and a weight of 1.4-9 kg. It is small and fat, with males slightly larger. It has a narrow forehead, a very pointed snout, short and round ears, hair growing behind the cheeks, short legs, and dense hair growing on the soles of the feet, which is suitable for walking on ice and snow. The tail hair is fluffy and the tip is white. The body is slightly smaller than that of the red fox. The fur of the Arctic fox is long, soft and thick, so the Arctic fox can endure severe cold. In winter, the fur of the whole body is pure snow white, with only the hairless nose tip and the tail tip being black. From spring to summer, it gradually turns into blue-gray. In summer, the body hair is gray-black, and the color of the belly is lighter. It has dense villi and less guard hair, a long tail, and the tail hair is particularly fluffy, with a white tail tip. Because its feet are like hare feet, the scientific