He is a little fellow, bigger than the Kit Fox, but
only about two thirds the size of Reddy Fox, and very beautiful.
Way up in the Far North his entire coat is snowy white the year
round. The fur is long, very thick and soft. His tail is very
large and handsome. When he lives a little farther south, he
changes his coat in the summer to one of a bluish-brown. But just
as soon as winter approaches, he resumes his white coat. The
young are born in a burrow in the ground, if the parents happen
to be living far enough south for the ground to be free of snow.
In the Far North, their home is a burrow in a snow bank, and
there the babies are born. The white coats of the Arctic Foxes,
who live in a world of white, are of great help to them when
hunting, or when trying to escape from enemies. It is difficult
to see them against their white surroundings. In summer their
food consists very largely of ducks and other wild fowl which nest
in great numbers in the Far North. In the winter they hunt for
Lemmings, Arctic Hares and a cousin of Mrs. Grouse called the
Ptarmigan, who lives up there. They pick the bones left by Polar
Bears and Wolves. Getting a living in winter is not easy, and so
the Arctic Fox is a great traveler.
"The Blue Fox is really only a colored White Fox, just as the Black
Fox is a black Red Fox, and his habits are, of course, just the same
as the habits of the White Fox.
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