The Arctic Fox

Unlike the pure science of last week, this week I would like you to join me and ponder our future if we do nothing about climate change by comparing our fate with the arctic fox.

 What differentiates us from the animal kingdom? There is a lot. For brevity, I will focus on our brain. And simplifying more, let’s look at the brain’s two major regions.  First, the instinctual brain governs our fight or flight reflex, is the more ancient brain which thinks quickly, and is also the more emotional portion of our grey matter.

The second region is what I will refer to as the contemplative. It differentiates us from the animals as it allows us to think through options before we act. We can make decisions not just with the present in mind but in generational time frames of responsibility.  It allows us to anticipate problems, work in symbols, communicate well, and transform and protect our habitat. It is slower because it takes time to “hash things out”. 

My goal is not to denigrate the natural world as the natural instinctual world and its critters have a wisdom we are only beginning to understand and appreciate. But, none of its creatures has a brain like ours.

My flying and outdoor experience has formed my opinions about the natural world. One vivid memory that has stuck in my mind was the arctic fox. I worked out of Deadhorse, AK through many a winter. The nights were long. The days were simply a sunrise and sunset without the sun. The arctic fox does not hibernate nor migrate south. It survives in the grimmest of dark cold climates.

Nature has, over long periods of time, given the fox beautiful adaptations. One of the adaptations is its long white fur in the winter. It is the only canine that has fur that totally covers its feet. When it looks at you from a snowy background you see a triangle of three black dots. Two eyes, and a black nose. Cute.

The number of arctic fox fluctuate greatly in response to its prey base.  When the fox is eating their normal fare of rodents, eggs, and polar bear leftovers, the fox rapidly increases in numbers.

When the prey base is depleted the fox are at their peak numbers and that is when we used to see them. They moved to where there was something to eat, that being our camps where they lived under the trailers.

Camp cooks would throw leftovers out to the famished little beasts. They waited for anything to drop out of our hands. Our leather choppers were often their prey. We wore leather mitts over thin gloves so we could keep our hands toasty yet be able to take the mitts off and work with reasonable dexterity. If you dropped a leather mitt it was rare it hit the ground. The fox are that quick.

I have a few memorable fox stories. Here is one. Sometimes, I would throw on cross-country skis and ski over the Arctic Ocean with my trusty shotgun slung over my shoulder. One time, about a half-dozen arctic fox followed me out. I suspect they anticipated a polar bear would show up and this funny human on two sticks would provide a dinner for the bear and them.  As I scooted along, they circled me like Indians circling a wagon train. They kept their distance so, after a while, I paid little attention. I had to stop and tighten a boot. One bold ball of fur laid down by the tip of my left ski and started to chew on it. This irritated me and I stomped my ski in his direction. Zip, off it went, leaving me with teeth marks on the ski-tip as a conversation piece.

It was troubling to see so many starving fox. They sometimes developed mange and froze or contracted rabies. This natural cycle of boom and bust is driven by a natural world which runs on instinct.

Animals are unable to anticipate and plan at the level we do. They do not have science to compute the numbers they can sustain, nor what effect their waste will have on their habitat, nor what they can do to enhance and protect their habitat.

But we can. We have prefrontal cortexes that make the analysis of our world a reality. In addition, the development of science has not only given us the ability to create things, but with our contemplative mind we can closely monitor the habitat that we depend on to thrive.  

Will we, as citizens of this planet, use our brains to understand our world and act on climate change? Certainly we can but it is a choice.

Further reading: “The Republican Brain” by Chris Mooney. Note, this should be called “Politically different brains, understanding our differences, and how we need them all.”