This will raise the spirits. Arctic foxes grow their own gardens to bring colour to the tundra 🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼 nationalgeographic.com/news/2016/05/1…
“The underground homes, often a century old, are topped with gardens exploding with lush dune grass, diamondleaf willows, and yellow wildflowers—a flash of color in an otherwise gray landscape.” ❄️🦊
“During the long, dark Arctic winter, the tundra fades into an opaque world where sky and ground blend into a never-ending haze.”
“With temperatures that dip into the double-digit negatives, the only place for the foxes to take shelter and protect young from the elements—and other predators—is deep underground.”
“Some dens are over a century old, and the best are elevated: ridges, mounds, riverbanks. But with so much permafrost—frozen ground—and such a flat environment, prime sites can take years to develop.”
“With litters averaging about eight to 10 pups—some as high as 16—the foxes deposit high amounts of nutrients in and around their dens, a combination of urination, defecation, and leftover kills.”
“In winter, foxes don’t drink water or eat snow or ice, which lowers their core temperature. Instead they get water from their food, which concentrates nutrients in their urine, making it more potent.”
“These tundra oases are beyond just being postcard beautiful: They boost the Arctic environment. Greater plant diversity gives herbivores a spot to forage during short summers.”
“With short ears and snout—which requires less energy to heat—as well as a heavily insulated coat, the species is perfectly adapted to winter ... scientists have been unable to get the animals to shiver in laboratory chambers—even when they drop temperatures to -40ºC.”
“Polar bears may get more attention as the Arctic’s top predator, but an animal a fraction of their size might in fact be pound-for-pound the more impressive beast.” ❄️🦊💩🌼🌼
Who’s going to write the story?
FANTASTIC ARCTIC FOX ❄️🦊
FANTASTIC ARCTIC FOX ❄️🦊
