By Meghan Gr.4

1. Characteristics Life Cycle Inuit Uses Habitat Where I got my information The Arctic Fox By Meghan Gr.4 Babies Enemies & Defense Food

2. Characteristics • The arctic fox is a predator that is very good with its surroundings. The Arctic Fox’s color pattern is grey or bluish in summer, in winter it is warm and white. An Arctic Fox’s Inukitut name is Tiriganiaq. Arctic Fox’s are quite handsome creatures. You meet them quite often in the Arctic, still they shouldn’t be fed food or be pet like a domestic dog. Arctic Fox’s do have rabies, but only 80% of them do. In the winter the Arctic Fox’s follow polar bears to get their leftover seal meat. The Arctic fox luckily camouflages into the snow so the polar bear doesn’t eat him for lunch!

3. Habitat • The Arctic Fox is widespread all around the Arctic. It is found wherever seals and polar bears are found on icebergs. The Arctic Fox lives in North America, Scandinavia, Asia, on Iceland and on the coasts of Greenland. Arctic Foxes normally live by an area of open water between ice floes, between floes and fast ice,or where ice has split apart. They also live in the tundra and coast of North America. The Arctic Fox is one of the most wide spread mammals in the world!

4. Babies • Arctic Fox pups are born in dens every spring. The Arctic Fox & Red Fox appear to be an inter breed and are solitary except when breeding. When a male/female stay together forever, usually on land,except when they go onto sea ice to teach there babies how to hunt. An Arctic Fox litter is normally 7-15 pups! Arctic Fox pups are born in well drained dens that are deep underground. Arctic Fox families usually stay together in the warm summers!

5. Food • The Arctic Fox is a carnivore and scavenger. The Arctic Fox & Red Fox feed on voles, lemmings and the occasional hare. Arctic foxes can eat berries and salmon if they can catch or find any! Arctic Foxes also eat left overs at the Inuit camps. The Arctic Fox eats small mammals as well. When a male/female stay together forever, usually on land, but they go onto sea ice to steal seal carcass left by Polar Bears.

6. Enemies & Defense • The Arctic Fox has very good defense, camouflage. It needs to blend into the snow or it will become the polar bears lunch! The male Arctic Fox guards the top of the den to see if there is danger. Sometimes the polar bear can sniff out the den and invade the Arctic Fox’s den. The Arctic Fox’s worst enemy is man and wolves.

7. Life Cycle • The Arctic Fox’s mating occurs in early March and early April. The Arctic Fox gets sexual maturity at 9 to 10 months of age. The Arctic Fox generally mates with only one partner per mating season. Some Arctic Fox’s die only in there first stage of their life! The Arctic Fox’s family normally breaks up in September and October

8. Inuit Uses • The Arctic Fox often gets trapped (or shot) on land by the Inuit for its fur. The fur is sought for hats and for the trim on clothing. The hunters killed Arctic Foxes for their pelts. In the past 50 years, the annual harvest of Arctic Foxes in the Arctic has ranged from high of nearly 17,000 in 1925 to a low of 500 in 1926. The Inuit now can only hunt Arctic Foxes.

9. Where I got my information • www.mnh.si.edu/arctic/html/arctic_fox.html • collections.ic.gc.ca/arctic/species/arcfox.htm http://collections.ic.gc.ca/arctic/species/arcfox.htm www.ucls.uchicago.edu/Projects/1996-97/ Hillocks96/arctic_fox.html http://www.nps.gov/bela/html/foxes.htm www.ucls.uchicago.edu/Projects/1996-97/ Hillocks96/arctic_fox.html www.state.ak.us/local/akpages/FISH.GAME/ notebook/furbear/arcfox.htm http://www.nps.gov/bela/html/foxes.htm