At impact the fox dives through the soft snow to catch a rodent that had moved at a most unfortunate time.  When winter's snows...

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Grand Teton National Park

At impact the fox dives through the soft snow to catch a rodent that had moved at a most unfortunate time. When winter's snows become really deep, the athletic hops that many foxes posses become critical to survival. This red fox jumps at least four feet in the air to dive teeth first through several feet of snow to catch a rodent it had detected. A fascinating study shows that foxes kill almost 75 percent of the time when they jump 20 degree off magnetic north, 60 percent in the opposite direction and just 15% percent in other directions, suggesting that perhaps foxes uses earth's magnetic field as a range finder. Photo © copyright by Ed Fuhr.