Diana Powell, age 10, of Nashville, Tennessee, for her question:
Do foxes hibernate?
The animals that hibernate are the ones that cannot cope with the cold winter months. Reynard the red fox is world famous for his clever ways and artful dodges. This smarty can cope with the cruelest weather. The Arctic fox even refuses to hibernate through the polar winter.
The furry fox is ,just about the smartest small animal in the world. Whatever problem comes along, he is almost sure to find a sensible answer to it. The people who claim that he is a cunning fellow, just do not know the half of it. He devours scads of pesky insects, rids our fields of mice and ratty rodents. And once in a while he treats himself to one of our fat chickens, perhaps as a well earned reward. But the farmer refuses to forgive this theft. He also may feel a bit guilty because he delayed building a proper fence around his poultry. Added to these mixed emotions, the farmer's wife has her eye on the fox's furry coat.
All this helps to explain why Reynard the red fox has been hunted, summer and winter, since the beginning of human history. He has managed to survive because he can plan a clever escape and out- dodge a pack of hungry hounds. He also uses his bright, foxy brain to get himself safely through the cold and hungry winter. In the fall, his furry coat grows thicker. It keeps him warm enough to sleep right in the snowdrift. There he dozes comfortably for a few hours, curled up in a ball with his bushy tail curled around the tip of his nose.
The red fox has a head full of tricks to catch enough meat r6 see him through the winter months. So he never thinks of hibernating,. His northern cousin of the snow bound Arctic has to cope with far more serious problems. In the fall, his dark summer coat begins to shed its hair. New snow white hairs grow in and his winter coat is very thick. When winter covers the land with its white blanket, the Arctic fox is snow white except for a black tip on the end of his nose
In the fall, he hunts an extra supply of rabbits and hares, mice and lemmings. He drags this meat to a secret cache and the weather freezes it for him. The blizzards blow and the temperature stays below zero. But the little white fox goes on hunting. He may track and catch a hare. He may dig out a lemming, busily nibbling the mossy greenery under the snow. He may find a fish or a seal washed up on the beach or a few leftovers from a meal caught by a polar bear. t4hen he can find nothing to hunt, he goes to his secret deep freeze and takes out a frozen dinner for himself.
Baby foxes are born in the spring. And the lucky little balls of fur start life with two very loving parents. The litter is born and sheltered in a rocky den. Mother or Father Fox stays nearby, on guard. Meantime, the other parent is out hunting for meat to feed the hungry cubs. Soon the youngsters are allowed to go with their parents on field trips. When they are properly educated in all the tricks of fox craft, they are allowed to leave the family and find year round hunting grounds for themselves.