The onset of winter storms can cause mass hysteria among homo sapiens -- canceled flights, frantic trips to the grocery store and ceaseless media coverage.
Not for furry foxes in the Midwest, though. A video by the Discovery Channel highlights how the red fox uses its acute sense of smell and innate compass to unexpectedly pounce on prey.
With complete concentration, these cute carnivores perk up their ears and listen for the slight patter of field mice under snow blanketing South Dakotas' Black Hills. When they detect the "faintest scamper," the red fox leaps as if jumping on a pogo stick, dives headfirst and then... ambush! Using their homing abilities (scientists believe red foxes are able to detect the Earth's magnetic field), foxes have a 75 percent snatch-success rate if they leap facing toward the North Pole.
Red foxes are opportunistic, solitary scavengers. They'll feast on anything from sea turtle eggs to trash and frogs, and live throughout North America, Africa, Europe and Asia. And, the red fox isn't the only animal with homing abilities. Sea turtles and salmon are natal homers, relying on the Earth's magnetic field to return to their birthplace to reproduce.
Related
Before You Go
