Snowy owl with chicks during the summer. In wintertime, survival on Ellesmere becomes even more difficult.

Winter on Ellesmere Island is a far cry from the tranquil summer seen in White Falcon, White Wolf. As the most Northern part of Canada and extending into the Arctic Circle, Ellesmere Island experiences extreme winters. Shrouded in continual darkness, temperatures reach beyond “cold” to a bitter -20 or -30 degrees Fahrenheit. To survive in these harsh conditions, animals must develop special adaptations to stay warm, conserve energy, and find food in a barren, frozen world.

To stay warm, most animals rely on their thick winter coats. Some of these coats can be quite “high tech.” Polar bears have a watertight layer of insulating hairs, protected by a layer of longer guard hairs on top.  Other Arctic animals rely on a similar layered coat where guard hairs act as a protective shield against the elements. Arctic foxes, for example, have furry feet. The hairs on the soles of their feet help them retain heat as they trot across the tundra.

The ultimate goal of all arctic animals is to lose as little body heat as possible. In comparison to their cousins, the red foxes, arctic foxes have several morphological differences. The first, of course, is their coat color. Their coats change to all white as the winter begins, then turn brown again the next summer to allow for seasonal camouflage. Arctic foxes also have a rounder body, shorter legs, shorter tails, shorter muzzles, and shorter ears. These are adaptations common to Arctic animals. The more compact the body, the less heat is lost.

Besides physical features like fur and body proportions, Arctic animals have highly specialized thermoregulatory systems. The metabolisms of Arctic animals can adjust seasonally so that animals conserve energy during the winter. Arctic animals have to be able to adjust their systems to cope with lower caloric intakes, or even to go without food for long periods of time. To do so, animals must make the most out of what they can find during the winter. The musk ox, like most Arctic animals, does what it can to fatten up during the summer when food is abundant. During the winter when food is less accessible and less nutritious, musk ox rely on these fat reserves to help them avoid starvation. It can be difficult to find food during the winter. Plants exist in a dormant state between the frozen ground and the blanket of snow. The air trapped between these two layers acts as insulation, and the plants and lichen living under the snow mostly avoid freezing temperatures. But any creature that eats this winter vegetation must first be able to get at it. Musk ox and caribou dig through the snow with their hooves and horns, or graze in windswept areas where food is exposed.

What it takes to survive on Ellesmere Island today may be vastly different in the years to come. Climate change and global warming are already altering the landscape. Massive ice shelves larger than the island of Manhattan, and thousands of years old, are breaking off from the northern edge of Arctic Canada. Glaciers are retreating, and the average winter temperature is increasing. Most animals on Ellesmere Island are so well adapted to life in the Arctic that any change in climate could be catastrophic. Only time can tell what will happen to the handful of specialized animals that call Ellesmere home during winter.

For further information on climate change and the Arctic, visit our list of additional web and print resources.

Photo © Mark Smith 2007

Stretching across more than 2.2 million acres of Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho is one of the greatest expanses of unspoiled nature and wildlife anywhere on Earth — Yellowstone National Park. Designated America’s first national park in 1872, Yellowstone now receives almost three million visitors each year. Yet only a small fraction of those who glimpse the park’s stunning vistas, geological wonders, and animal residents do so during the winter months, a time when nature’s inhospitality is matched only by its serenity.

NATURE follows in the snowy footprints of Yellowstone’s red foxes, spies on the predatory warfare of wolves and elk, and climbs into the den of a grizzly bear that gives birth to two cubs while deep in hibernation. In addition to mesmerizing footage of landscapes and wildlife, trail alongside author and photographer Tom Murphy, who has been coming to Yellowstone for the past 26 winters, camping and photographing amid the silence and solitude of the park. And go behind the scenes with filmmaker Shane Moore to find out how he kept up with Murphy during an at times harrowing trek, reminiscent of the legendary John Colter’s first journey into the park nearly two hundred years ago. Buy the DVD. This film premiered in November 2006.

Photo © Tom Murphy

Bat-Eared Fox (Otocyon megalotis)

• Type: Mammal
• Family: Canidae
• Habitat: Short-grass plains and areas where termites and beetles are found
• Location: Two distinct populations in southwest and northeast Africa
• Diet: Insectivore
• Average lifespan in the wild: 6 years
• Size: Head and body 18.1-26 in (46-66 cm); tail 12-14 in (30-35 cm)
• Weight: 4.9-9.9 lbs (2.2-4.5 kg)

The ears of bat-eared foxes can grow up to 5.3 inches long. For an animal that stands 11.8-15.7 inches at the shoulder, that’s enormous. Bat-eared foxes use these specialized ears to locate termites, dung beetles, and other insects, which make up most of their diet. Bat-eared foxes can hear larvae chewing their way out of an underground dung beetle ball. They can also detect the sound of harvesting termites chewing on short grasses.

The body of the bat-eared fox is ashy gray in color with black limbs and tail. The backs of its enormous ears are also black, and it has a raccoon-like white facemask. The underside of its neck and belly are paler than the rest of its body.

Bat-eared foxes are hunted by several different mammal species, including cheetahs, jackals, spotted hyenas, rock pythons, African wild dogs, and leopards. Their large, bushy tails work as a rudder when fleeing from predators in a zig-zag pattern. They are fast and good at dodging, but their best chance at escaping predation is by fleeing to their underground dens, which have several entrances and multiple chambers connected by tunnels. A bat-eared fox family may have several dens throughout their home range.

Bat-eared foxes are also preyed upon by raptors and must keep a watchful eye while foraging. Most of their foraging is done alone at night. While looking for food, bat-eared foxes walk slowly and quietly with their noses to the ground and their ears cocked forward, listening for insects.

Surviving on an all-insect diet required several adaptations in the bat-eared fox. In addition to their large and powerful ears, bat-eared foxes have specialized extra teeth for chewing up insects, and their lower jawbone is designed to open and close rapidly.

Pairs or groups are often found residing near one another, and individuals come together at dusk to play and groom each other. Bat-eared foxes mate for life, and sometimes two females will mate with one male and share a communal den. The father is very invested in the rearing of young, and he spends a great deal of time babysitting. While the father is watching the cubs, the mother is free to forage for food, including insects, which are a steady food source.  Though they are low in nutrition and cannot be regurgitated for the young, they allow the mother to take in the necessary amount of food needed to produce milk for the cubs.

Did you know: Bat-eared foxes play an important role in termite control. A single bat-eared fox can eat approximately 1.15 million termites each year.

Photo by Hans Hillewaert, Creative Commons license.

Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes)

• Type: Mammal
• Family: Canidae
• Habitat: Highly variable. Edge forests, deserts, tundra, cities, and suburban areas
• Location: Most of the Northern Hemisphere and Australia
• Diet: Rodents, birds, insects, carrion and fruit
• Average lifespan in the wild: 3 years in the wild; 10-12 years in captivity
• Size: Head and body 18-35.4 in (45.5-90 cm); tail 11.8-21.8 in (30-55.5 cm)
• Weight: 6.6-30.8 lbs (3-14 kg)

The small, slender bodies of red foxes are designed for speed and agility. In proportion to other canid species, red foxes have longer legs and smaller stomachs — adaptations that allow the animal to run nearly 30 miles per hour. A smaller stomach means they need to eat more often, and red foxes opportunistically eat a wide variety of foods as they traverses their home range at night, such as insects, fruits, earthworms, and scraps left by humans. Although they also hunt during the day, red foxes have very acute senses to help them succeed as nocturnal predators. Their eyes are designed to work well in low light conditions, and they maneuver their erect triangular ears to locate the faint rustling noises of rodents. When a mouse is detected, red foxes stand alert and motionless, using their ears and eyes to pinpoint the location of the rodent. Then they launch themselves into the air at a 45-degree angle, and land on the mouse, pinning it to the ground.

Red foxes are territorial, and mark their home range using feces and urine. A dominance hierarchy determines who breeds, and the dominant female gives birth each year to a litter of 3 to 12 pups. Mothers keep their offspring in dens, and non-breeding adults help care for the young. There are several different red fox color variants, which can often be seen within a litter. These include the silver, black, and cross variants. All red foxes have thick fur, a wide, bushy tail, and a narrow, pointed muzzle.

Red foxes have the largest distribution of any canid species. They can be found in almost the entire northern hemisphere, in part because they have such a diverse diet. As a species, red foxes have adapted well to human expansion. They thrive in urban areas, and have benefited from the human conversion of forest into agricultural lands. Red foxes are often seen as a threat to poultry and young livestock, even though they usually prey only on weak and sick animals. Though many farmers consider them pests, red foxes play a major role in controlling populations of crop-threatening animals like rabbits and rodents.

Did you know: Red fox predators are eagles, coyotes, gray wolves, bears, mountain lions, and humans, who have been hunting red foxes since the 4th century BC.

Photo by Otmar Penker © ORF / Die ARGEntur Filmproduktions GmbH

• Species Name: Panthera tigris tigris
• Habitat: Jungle and grasslands of India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, and Nepal
• Reproduction: The average litter contains two to five cubs; they are completely dependent on their mothers for the first 18 months of their lives.
• Diet: Tigers are superb hunters that mainly go after deer, monkeys, wild boar, bison, and, occasionally, humans (the tiger has probably attacked and killed more people than any other wild mammal).
• Characteristics and Behavior: The tiger is the largest member of the feline family. Its stripes provide excellent camouflage and help make it an excellent hunter. Adult males can grow to up to 10 feet in length and can weigh more than 550 pounds; females are almost as large. Just as house cats do, tigers mark their territory with scent by rubbing and scratching trees and other landmarks. Tigers and jaguars are the only cats to excel at swimming.

LEOPARD

• Species Name: Panthera pardus
• Habitat: The Middle East, most of sub-Saharan Africa, Asia Minor, India, Pakistan, China, Siberia, much of mainland Southeast Asia, and the islands of Java and Sri Lanka.
• Reproduction: There is no defined breeding season; females give birth every one to two years, rearing a litter of anywhere from one to six cubs.
• Diet: Opportunistic feeders, leopards hunt gazelles, deer, wild goats, pigs, domestic livestock, and monkeys. If necessary, they will also eat rabbits, birds, rodents, and even insects.
• Characteristics and Behavior: The leopard’s spots are called rosettes. This cat is an immensely strong animal, with a powerful neck and jaw that enables it to scale the high branches of a tree while dragging a carcass, that may weigh more than itself, in its mouth. It is remarkably adaptable, surviving handily in forests, savannas, mountain heights, and woodlands.

GOLDEN JACKAL

• Species Name: Canis aureus
• Habitat: Throughout North and East Africa, Southeast Europe, and South Asia
• Reproduction: Males and females bond monogamously, sometimes permanently, and share the duties of raising their young. Each year, they have a litter with an average of two to four pups.
• Diet: Jackals are omnivores, and eat everything from fruits and vegetables to invertebrates, reptiles, birds, small mammals, carrion, and — near human habitation — garbage.
• Characteristics and Behavior: While it can thrive in many different habitats, the golden jackal seems to prefer dry landscapes and open country, including grassland steppes. Jackals are good hunters, especially when providing for their young. They will scavenge after a larger animal has made a kill, rushing in to eat any meat remaining, then heading back tot the den to regurgitate it for their pups.

BENGAL FOX

• Species Name: Vulpes bengalensis
• Habitat: Open, unforested areas in India, Nepal, and Pakistan, particularly the Himalayan foothills
• Reproduction: Bengal foxes are believed to form monogamous relationships and have litters of three to six kits. Sometimes, members of the previous litter will stay behind to help their parents raise the next one.
• Diet: They eat almost anything, but mainly ground-nesting birds, rodents, insects, and smaller mammals, as well as some plants and fruits.
• Characteristics and Behavior: By nature, Bengal foxes are daytime creatures, but they have been so aggressively hunted — partly for their flesh, which is thought by some to hold medicinal properties, but mainly for sport — that they have become nocturnal in areas inhabited by humans.

PEACOCK

• Species Name: Pavo cristatus
• Habitat: Forested lowlands and foothills of India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. The peacock is the national bird of India.
• Reproduction: The peacock’s fanning display of his famously brilliant tail feathers helps him win a mate; the brighter his colors, the more likely he is to win the peahen of his choice. Each year, a peahen lays an average of four to six eggs.
• Diet: Peacocks feed on plants and small animals, such as mice, insects, and snakes, some of which may even be poisonous.
• Characteristics and Behavior: A peacock is the male member of the peafowl species; the females are known as peahens. The peacock is the largest member of the pheasant family. The male’s tail feathers grow up to several feet long and are shed every year after mating season; the female is much more drab in appearance. They are not powerful fliers, preferring to spend most of their time on the ground.

DUNG BEETLE

• Species Name: Scarabaeidae Deltochilum gibbosum
• Habitat: Rainforests, jungles, and other forested areas throughout the world; dung beetles exist on every continent on earth except for Antarctica
• Reproduction: Female dung beetles lay their eggs directly into balls of dung, producing only one offspring at a time.
• Diet: They eat dung and lots of it, mostly excreted by plant-eating animals.
• Characteristics and Behavior: Dung beetles are very industrious insects, spending their days rolling dung into balls, then transporting the balls into a network of tunnels in which they live. In Bandhavgarh, dung beetles are an essential part of the overall forest ecology: monkeys eating in fig trees let their excretions drop to the forest floor, and the beetles cary it away. Fig seeds inside the monkey’s dung are rolled into the dung balls, which are germinated in new locations, thus helping to foster new generations of fig trees.

CHITAL

• Species Name: Cervus axis axis
• Habitat: In and around forested areas throughout India and Sri Lanka
• Reproduction: A chital gives birth to one fawn at a time, normally once a year but sometimes twice. Males stage battles over females by dueling with their antlers.
• Diet: Grass and other vegetation
• Characteristics and Behavior: Unlike other deer that lose their antlers seasonally, male chital shed and re-grow their antlers throughout the year. Sometimes, chital can be found near troops of langurs, feeding on their discarded leaves. As a result, chital and langurs help one another avoid predators: langurs look out from above, while chital use their powerful sense of smell to detect danger on the ground. Each species has learned to heed the warning call of the other.

HANUMAN LANGUR

• Species Name: Semnopithecus entellus
• Habitat: Mountain scrub and rainforests in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, China, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan. In addition, it is found near and within many urban areas of India.
• Reproduction: Like most primates, hanuman langurs give birth to one baby at a time. In Bandhavgarh, most infants are born during spring’s dry season.
• Diet: Vegetarians, they eat mostly leaves, as well as fruits and flowers. They are able to digest and even thrive on seeds that humans would find toxic, such as those containing a high level of strychnine.
• Characteristics and Behavior: The hanuman langur is considered sacred in India for its resemblance to Hanuman, the Hindu god of healing and worship. Because of this, hanuman langurs dwelling in urban areas receive handouts from humans, and their raids on cultivated crops are tolerated.

OWL

• Family Name: Strigidae
• Habitat: Owls make their homes everywhere in the globe except for in Antarctica.
• Reproduction: Owls mate in the spring, with females laying an average of three or four eggs. Only the largest and the strongest of the hatchlings will survive to adulthood.
• Diet: Owls eat small mammals such as rodents, birds, amphibians, insects, and birds.
• Characteristics and Behavior: Owls are superb nocturnal hunters whose incredibly powerful senses of hearing and sight guide them to carefully hidden prey, even in the dimmest of nights. Their specially arranged feathers allow them to swoop and glide nearly soundlessly, descending upon prey without warning. Owls are famous for their vision: unlike most other birds, their eyes are large (they can account for up to five percent of an owl’s total body weight) and face forward, held in place by bony structures called sclerotic rings.

SAMBAR

• Species Name: Cervus unicolor
• Habitat: Asia and South Asia; they prefer wooded areas for protection and feeding.
• Reproduction: Mating occurs in the fall, and a single fawn is born six months later.
• Diet: Sambar eat leaves, grasses, berries, and fruits; sambar can sometimes be spotted in the water, browsing for vegetation that grows on the bottom of lakes.
• Characteristics and Behavior: Sambar, the most common deer species in the world, are the largest deer found in India, sporting antlers up to three feet long; full-grown males stand up to 5 feet tall and can weigh 700 pounds. That’s a lot of meat, and sambar are definitely the favorite meal of the tigers of Bandhavgarh — tigers usually attack the largest available prey, since they usually only eat about 60 percent of their kills. Sambar feed mainly at night, sleeping during much of the day.