Hi! I’m Emmanuelle, a researcher at Université du Québec à Rimouski, and I study snow buntings—an Arctic songbird that becomes a food source for foxes during the summer months. Arctic foxes are tiny but mighty predators, perfectly adapted for one of the harshest environments on Earth: the Arctic tundra. Their fluffy fur coats change color with the seasons, giving them awesome camouflage—snowy white in winter and brown or grey in summer. Their paws are covered in fur, which helps them walk on snow and ice, and they can even use their bushy tails like cozy blankets when they curl up to sleep.
These clever foxes have super sharp hearing that helps them track down prey moving beneath the snow. Their favorite foods are little rodents like lemmings and voles. Normally, rodent numbers go up and down in cycles—sometimes there are tons of them, and sometimes very few. Foxes follow the same pattern! When there are lots of rodents, foxes can have huge families—up to 10 pups in one litter! But when rodents are hard to find, fox parents struggle to find enough food, and very few pups survive. In those tough times, foxes turn to other foods, like bird eggs and small birds such as snow buntings.
But life in the Arctic is changing quickly and snow buntings are becoming harder to find. Their numbers have dropped a lot in the past 45 years, and scientists think it’s because the climate is getting warmer.
That’s where my research comes in! I travel to the northern tip of Ellesmere Island to study how climate change might be making it harder for snow buntings to survive. For example, higher temperatures may cause them to overheat while feeding their babies—meaning they bring less food back to the nest, and fewer chicks survive.
By learning more about what’s happening with snow buntings, we can better understand how animals like Arctic foxes might be affected—and find ways to help both species thrive.
When you adopt an Arctic fox, you’re helping support this important research. Your adoption helps me put together all the data I’ve collected as I work toward earning my Master’s degree—and helps protect some of the toughest animals in the Arctic. Thanks for joining the mission and standing up for Arctic wildlife!
Check out the Adoptions section in the Earth Rangers App or visit the Earth Rangers Shop to get your Arctic Fox Adoption Kit. Make a difference today!
