O’er hill and dale, heap’d into one expanse
Of marbled snow, as far as eye can sweep,
With a blue crust of ice unbounded glaz’d.”
The Canis lagopus, or Arctic fox, is found in all parts of Spitzbergen. Its nose is sharp and black; eyes black, with yellow iris; ears short, erect, round, and almost hidden in the fur; legs short, with the toes furred like those of a hare; tail long and bushy. The male is generally larger than the female; but neither reach the size of the common British fox. In summer, its hair is of a greyish colour, which in winter changes to white, when it also becomes longer, softer, and a good deal thicker than it is in the former period.
The Arctic fox is monogamous, and brings forth twice a year, in the months of March and June. It has several pups at a time.
This species feeds chiefly on young water fowl and eggs, and when very hungry, will eat any kind of shell or other fish. In the northern parts of Asia, and in Lapland, they prey on the lemming, or Lapland marmont, (Mus Alpinus,) which are often seen there in surprising numbers.
They generally burrow in the ground, but in Spitzbergen and Greenland, where the intensity of the frost renders this impracticable, they lie in caverns, and in the cliffs of rocks, two or three together. They are so remarkably hardy, that the most rigorous severity of winter in these regions, never stops their search of prey. They are excellent swimmers, and are often seen passing from one island to another, especially at the time when bird-nests are to be found. Some zoologists have affirmed, that they are harmless, simple, and easily taken; but Fabricius assures us that they possess all the wildness and cunning of the vulpes, or fox of these kingdoms. Fabricius says, the Arctic fox has three different kinds of voices[14]. Its smell is not so fetid as that of the common fox. Its flesh is not only eaten by the Greenlanders, but some voyagers have esteemed it as being good food. Vid. Phipps, p. 184.
Their skins are of little value in traffic, especially the white furred ones, as the fur easily comes off.
It was formerly supposed that there were two species of Arctic foxes, but this is denied by Fabricius on very satisfactory grounds.