DOG FAMILY 



79 



the native Eskimo tribes inhabiting the same re- 

 gion, at least in matter of forethought, clever- 

 ness, and morality." It is found throughout most 

 of the Arctic regions, and as far south as 

 latitude 50°. 



The three color varieties of the animal are 

 so distinct that the mistake has not infrequently 

 been made of regarding them as dififerent species. 

 In the Pribilof Islands, and the Aleutian Archi- 

 pelago, it has the dull blue tint all the year 

 round ; farther north, it is bluish brovi^n in sum- 

 mer and white in winter ; still farther north, it is 

 always pure white. Its nose is black-tipped and 

 somewhat of the " stub " variety, and its ears 

 have a cropped appearance, being shorter and 

 more rounded than those of anv other Fox. 



happen sometimes that these caches are opened 

 by the Wolverines and Wolves, which are the 

 worst enemies of the Arctic Fox. 



During the short summer the Arctic Fox has 

 a great variety of food and plenty of it. He 

 is a terror to the different kinds of birds, es- 

 pecially breeding waterfowl, not only preying 

 on the birds themselves, but also robbing their 

 nests. He is partial to polar hares also, but catch- 

 ing these is no easy matter. When the first 

 young seals are born, numbers of Arctic Foxes 

 move seaward and find their food on. the coastal 

 ice. 



According to Richardson, the Foxes of the 

 northern portion of Arctic America migrate 

 southward, the line of march being always as 



ARCTIC FOX 



Three color variations of the same animal. In summer it is slate brown; in fall it is of mottled appearance; and 



in winter it is pure white 



Its eve, which is hazel in color, is very bright 

 and intelligent. 



Arctic Foxes, like Prairie Dogs, live in com- 

 munities, digging for themselves burrows, of 

 which twenty or thirty are usually to be found to- 

 gether. They are fully as provident as Squirrels 

 in storing up food for the winter, relying mainly 

 upon lemmings. These the Arctic Foxes catch 

 in the swamps or dig out of their holes. This 

 Fox " hunts diligently while game is yet abund- 

 ant, and brings home load after load of fat- 

 bodied lemmings to be packed away in cold stor- 

 age for the winter. Where the Blue Fox lives 

 the frost never wholly leaves the ground ; so 

 he digs down in the moist turf until he reaches 

 a temperature only just above freezing, and 

 packs down several dozen lemmings in a place, 

 covering them with moss and sods. These 

 caches of frozen lemmings are his principal food 

 supply for the greater part of the year." It will 



near as possible to the coasts. Some hunters, 

 however, affirm that it is only the young Foxes 

 which have not " set up housekeeping " that go 

 south ; and that these kill their food as they 

 go, returning when daylight lengthens and the 

 sun reappears across the south, to rejoin the 

 older Foxes. 



The Blue pelts are by far the more valuable, 

 selling from $125 to $250. On St. George's 

 Island, one of the Pribilof group, 250 pairs 

 of Blue Foxes are kept for breeding purposes. 

 Mr. James Judge, writing in Science, gives some 

 interesting information concerning these Foxes. 

 The mating season, he says, is March and the 

 first half of April ; and. contrary to the often 

 heard statement that this Fox truly pairs, only 

 one authenticated instance of pairing has been 

 recorded on St. George's Island. The average 

 weight of the males is a little under eleven 

 pounds ; that of the females, eight and three- 



