The Arctic is a place of snow and ice , glaciers and frozen seas , barren mountains and low , shrubby plains . It seems like a place where life could not survive , but many creatures make their home here , and underneath a blanket of snow , a den of warm , furry bodies lie sleeping .
As night descends , a little black nose pokes out of the snow , followed by a tumble of kits ( babies ), each with black-ringed eyes , fur-lined ears , and pink tongues yawning in small faces . The dog and vixen emerge with their babysitter , one of their older children from a previous litter .
The full-grown foxes are chihuahuasized and Jack Russell-sized , but completely white , from the tufts of their ears to the tips of their long , bushy tails and the pads of their furcovered feet . They ’ ve birthed 16 kits this year , a bumper litter !
When the winter darkness begins to lighten and the snows start to melt , the foxes will shed their winter coats , gradually changing into their summer coats of blueish-grey and brown . They ’ ll be able to camouflage in the tundra , the vast , treeless areas of the north where the soils stay frozen all year round .
Nomadic and long ranging , the foxes move from mountain to tundra to ocean shore , hunting little short-tailed rodents called lemmings , and birds and fish , and scavenging for shellfish , insects , worms and berries when they ’ re available .
This incredible ability to adapt and survive in extreme environments has allowed foxes to inhabit every part of the world . They learn the skills needed to thrive in each habitat , even towns and cities .
The Arctic fox is thought to be a distant descendant of the red foxes of Tibet . From those cold Himalayan mountain tops , a group of adventurous foxes ventured north around three million years ago . It ’ s taken that many years for the red fox to turn white and blue and adapt to life in the Arctic .
In that time , they ’ ve discovered the secret to keeping warm in the harshest of winters . Their fur is extra-insulated so they can withstand temperatures of -40 ° C without shivering . When they
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