Hundreds of dens are scattered over the countryside, many more than are used in any one season. They are located indiscriminately in spruce woods and out on the open tundra miles from the nearest tree. Each pair has a selection of old dens to choose from, but often they occupy favorite sites year after year. During a season, a family sometimes moves from their first choice to a den nearby. The connecting burrows of a den usually have 5 or 6 entrances and one I examined had 19.
The young are born the early part of May. By June the blackish, blue-eyed, chubby pups may be seen walking about clumsily. At this age they are nursed in the open. One mother that I often watched almost always nursed her five pups from a standing position. Only twice did I see her lying on her side to nurse. As the pups grow they become slimmer and the eyes turn brown and the coat color changes so that the different color types can be identified. Although nursing seems to cease toward the end of June, the cubs remain at the den into September.
While the male travels far to hunt, the vixen remains at home to watch over the pups. Most of the time she is curled up at the den or perhaps a hundred yards away on a prominence. When she wishes to nurse the pups or give them food, she puts her head in the mouth of a burrow and calls softly “mmmmm,” “mmmmm.” If they do not come forth, she may go to another entrance and call. But usually they respond at once. A sharp, guttural “klung” has the opposite meaning; when the pups hear this warning they scurry into a burrow. This command is often given after the pups have nursed and the mother wants to go off a short distance to lie down.
The female exhibits extreme friendliness toward her mate. When he returns to the den after an absence she greets him with tail-wagging, face-licking and much wriggling of her body. He is less demonstrative and acts tired, which he probably is after several hours of hunting. She picks up his offerings—usually mice or ground squirrels—eats her fill or, if not hungry, carries the booty to the burrows and calls to the young. He moves off to one side to rest. She sometimes watches for his return from various points. One evening a vixen impatiently moved from one lookout to another for over 2 hours before the male arrived and received her warm welcome.
Mice and lemmings are the staple all-year food, but in summer the ground squirrel may make up about half the diet. When snowshoe hares and ptarmigan are plentiful, they become prominent in the diet. Carrion is especially attractive in winter, and the fox attends carcasses and curls up on the snow to wait until the wolves and wolverine have eaten. He robs wolf and wolverine caches, and he sometimes has his own caches robbed.
In the latter part of July the foxes go berrying, for they are fond of fruit. Blueberries and crowberries are everywhere available for the picking. The berries are also eaten in winter sometimes, it is said, quite extensively when mice are scarce.
Foxes appear to be well able to take care of themselves. They can outrun the grizzly, wolf, and wolverine. When the golden eagle swoops at him he stands on watch with his bushy tail erect and straight as a ramrod. The eagle dares not strike.
Lynx
Lynx canadensis
The lynx manner is one of independence, confidence and complacency. He walks through the woods with dignity, looking neither right nor left. Of course, he is not as oblivious as he appears to be. He may even stop to watch you, but only briefly, and then he continues sedately on his way.
His long legs are thicker than seem necessary to support the lean body, but they are no doubt valuable for long jumps and pouncing. The large, widespreading feet serve him well as snowshoes, and strong, curved claws enable him to scramble readily up a tree. The eyes are startlingly big and yellow and the throat ruff gives to the face a squarish look. Long, glistening black tassels adorn the ears. The stub tail, about 4 inches long and tipped with black, serves to register emotions. The winter fur is soft and grayish, with few markings except for the facial pattern; the summer coat is more tawny.