4 min read
Do Foxes Hibernate? No — Here's How They Get Through Winter
Foxes stay active all winter. Thicker coats, cached food, carrion and a switch to rodents under snow get them through — and midwinter is their breeding season.
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Topic
adaptation
Put an Arctic fox and a fennec side by side and you are looking at one design problem solved in opposite directions. Short ears and a compact body to hold heat in; enormous ears and a lean frame to throw it away.
These articles cover the machinery: the densest fur of any mammal, counter-current heat exchange in the legs, kidneys that make drinking optional, and fur-covered feet for both ice and 60 °C sand.
What these articles will let you do
- Explain Allen's rule using two animals from the same genus
- Understand why the Arctic fox does not shiver until roughly −70 °C
- See how behaviour, not just anatomy, does much of the work
3 articles on adaptation
5 min read
The Fennec Fox: Built for the Sahara, Not for Your Living Room
The fennec fox is the smallest canid on Earth and can live without drinking water. How its ears, kidneys and behaviour beat the desert — and why it makes a poor pet.
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5 min read
How the Arctic Fox Survives −50 °C
The Arctic fox has the warmest coat of any mammal and does not shiver until −70 °C. How its body, coat and hunting strategy handle the polar winter.
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Adaptation: common questions
- How cold can an Arctic fox survive?
- Below −50 °C. Its lower critical temperature is around −40 °C and sustained shivering does not begin until roughly −70 °C.
- Why do fennec foxes have such big ears?
- Primarily to radiate heat without losing water to panting. They also give exceptional low-frequency hearing for prey moving under sand.
- Do foxes hibernate?
- No true fox hibernates. They stay active all winter on a denser coat, cached food, carrion and rodents hunted under snow.
Related topics
species
The twelve true foxes of the genus Vulpes, plus the grey fox and other animals that carry the name.
behaviour
How foxes actually behave: hunting, territory, social structure, daily rhythms and the reasons behind each.
red fox
The red fox, Vulpes vulpes — the most widespread wild carnivore on Earth, covered from field marks to life cycle.
Not what you were looking for? Browse every topic or all articles, and if the answer you need is missing, tell us — reader questions are where most of these articles started.