Visited the Point Defiance Zoo again yesterday (even stayed for the zoolights later as well). Managed to get video footage of these 2 arctic foxes. The video is actually 3 seperate videos I got of them, but I felt that it would be be easier to just merge them into one long video instead of posting them as 3 seperate videos. At the end of the video, I shared some of the pictures I took of them. As expected, at this time of year, the foxes were in their white winter coats.
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Notes about the arctic foxes:
- the zoo has 2 arctic foxes: one is a male and the other is a female (a vixen), though they are getting up there in age.
- Winter time is probably the best time to visit the zoo if you want to see the arctic foxes. They seem to be more hit and miss in the summer months (though even then you might see them in their summer coats), especially on days when it is really hot out. If you are having trouble seeing them in the warmer months, try visiting the zoo say anytime between November and early March and you are most likely to see them. Also, winter time is the best time to go if you want to see them in their white winter coats. If you go in the summer, they will be in their greyish brown coats (like this guy below):
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| same fox, different look (picture taken back in August) |
- Did you know that arctic foxes are native to the arctic regions of North America and elsewhere. You won't find arctic foxes in the wild say in Washington State, though you may find red foxes around here (especially both on San Juan Island and at Mount Rainer national park), but if you ventured up to say Iceland or Barrow Alaska, you might encounter them (along with polar bears and arctic wolves). BTW, it appears that the foxes are regulars near the oil refinery facility in Deadhorse Alaska.
- Unlike the red foxes at Northwest Trek, these foxes are somewhat smaller (definitely smaller than you would expect) and are actually more bold around humans than red foxes are. The red foxes tend to be more shy and will hide out in the woods in their enclosure sometimes (though sometimes they too will come out to say hi sometimes too like the ones I got video of back in May and July), but the arctic foxes tend to hang out in the open and will interact with the visitors when they are out. BTW, I like how they looked at me when I tried mimicking their sounds (trying to get them to talk back to me).
- Considering that arctic foxes originate in the arctic regions, I bet they enjoy the winters here in Washington. To them winters are quite mild in compared to winters say in northern Alaska. There it can get down to 50 below zero or more, but here it rarely gets below 20 degrees and usually averages between 30-40 (sure it is cold, but not nearly as cold as it is up in say Barrow Alaska at this time of year). I imagine they are quite comfortable in cold weather around here.
- one signature sound of arctic foxes: "ar ar ar".
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