Chapter 166 Arctic Fox (VI)

The brave and united Fox Army managed to capture the prey at the cost of their lives and had several delicious meals.

During the coldest parts of winter, they consumed enough calories to survive one snowstorm after another.

With the background music of Jingle Bells, more and more little people traveled thousands of miles to the Arctic to ride reindeer and watch the aurora, but this year only the tip of the tail is left.

After the New Year, the temperature in the polar regions gradually rose, lemmings and Arctic hares became active again, and the foxes finally had their staple food.

Eat yourself up and gain weight before spring.

The Arctic fox's cub period is very short, usually reaching sexual maturity at 9-11 months and having the ability to reproduce.

Many newborn Arctic foxes live to the second spring, when they begin looking for a mate and take on the mission of becoming a father or mother.

This litter of foxes has a pair of responsible parents. We have seen how ugly the beautiful Arctic foxes can become because of raising cubs.

In order to cope with the sweet challenges ahead, they try their best to strengthen their physical fitness and prepare for courtship and raising cubs.

Of course, we pigs have no pressure to seek a mate~

As long as you’re not courting, you don’t need to take care of the cubs…right?

Wait, you really don’t need it?!

Yu Yiyun, who had no worldly desires, was just about to eat and drink as usual when she suddenly realized a serious problem.

The Arctic fox has a relatively flexible living habit. It is neither a typical social animal nor a typical solitary animal.

When the fox couple raises their children until they are about six months old, they will clean up the house and let the sub-adult cubs fend for themselves.

Next spring, the fox couple and their previous litter of children will return to their hometown.

Some fox families have too many cubs to take care of, so they let the older brothers and sisters from the previous litter act as "Dehua" to help raise their younger siblings and accumulate life experience at the same time.

Judging from the current situation, if the other brothers and sisters successfully find a partner, then the job of "childcare nanny and babysitter" will only fall to——

Yu Yiyun lowered his dog head and silently thought about the reproductive capacity of the fox father and mother. He immediately gave up the idea of ​​fooling around the world and playing with cats and dogs. He obediently caught lemmings and Arctic hares to supplement his nutrition and prepare for the hard work that was to come.

Every year on the spring equinox, March 22, the North Pole changes from polar night to polar day.

The coast is some distance away from the pole, and short sunrises and sunsets begin to appear about a month in advance.

Arctic animals respond to the call of spring and return to this ice-covered land.

Throughout the winter, Yu Yiyun stayed in the area where land and glaciers meet and did not stray too far from his hometown.

As soon as there were signs of spring, he immediately returned to Fox Island with his younger brothers and sisters to fight for the priority right to choose a mate for the entire family.

Before long, Arctic foxes began returning to their breeding islands to start a fiercely competitive courtship contest.

The first fox they met was a cute and beautiful female fox of marriageable age.

She has white fur, round ears, watery eyes, a clear and sweet voice, and she gently shakes her fox tail.

In addition to Yu Yijun, there were four other male foxes in the fox army. They were instantly attracted by the sweet and cute mini Daji. They rushed over to surround the little female fox and attracted the attention of the female fox by jumping and calling.

During the courtship process, male Arctic foxes often compete to attract the affection of female Arctic foxes.

The female fox didn't expect that there were four foxes participating in this competition, and for a moment she didn't know which one to choose as a mate.

Little No. 1 rushed to the female fox with his tail wagging, jumped high in excitement, and prepared to ride on her.

The female fox was so scared that she lay flat on the ground, baring her teeth and growling at Xiao 1, obviously not liking this overly enthusiastic partner.

“Wow, wow, wow…” Little 1 buried his head in the snow and cried sadly.

In comparison, the Xiao4 and Xiao5 are much more stable.

They are equally strong, have a tacit understanding when hunting, and are always inseparable.

Two foxes surrounded the beautiful female fox, licking her fur one on the left and one on the right.

As they licked, they unknowingly licked each other's body.

“…Huh?”

The vixen looked to the left, then to the right, feeling somewhat redundant, and quietly stepped out from between the two of them, not intending to join them in performing the Arctic version of "Burning Winter".

Yu Yijun looked up, unable to bear the sight.

These two bastards are just gay in their usual ways.

During the most important courtship period in a fox's life, the two of you are still just sticking to each other, waiting to end up alone!

The two male foxes licked her happily for a while, and then found that the female fox had slipped away at some point, so they looked at each other in bewilderment with their puppy eyes wide open.

They stared at each other for a long time, and it was unclear who attacked first, and they soon turned into a ball of wrestling.

"Squeak!" It's all your fault. You scared my wife away!

"Woo woo!" She's obviously my wife!

"Squeak!" My wife!

"Woo wow~" Stop making noise, it's my wife~

The two dogs were fighting fiercely when a triumphant bark was heard.

Looking up, he saw Little 8, who was always a step behind the fox, often got into big trouble, and who was thought to have stolen wine and made his boss so angry, happily guarding the female fox.

The female fox touched Xiao 8's nose and sniffed each other's tails, obviously very satisfied with her partner.

Yu Yiyun never dreamed that among his dogs, Xiao 8 would be the first to find a wife.

Not surprising when you think about it.

Compared with other brothers, Xiao8 is a little smaller, but is considered to be above average in the entire Arctic fox group.

He also likes new things, has a lot of ideas, and uses fancy ways to please the vixen.

With the contrast of the three "strange foxes" before, it is hard for the female fox not to like Xiao 8, who has the highest emotional value.

Little 8 jumped up and down excitedly, caught three lemmings, lined them up crookedly in front of the female fox, then squatted in front of her and looked at her expectantly.

As a wild Arctic fox, Xiao 8 has no concept of 'proposing'.

Just because on Christmas Day, I ran into a lot of human males, who suddenly handed plant roots to human females, and then suddenly knelt down and chattered.

The human female looked extremely excited and immediately threw herself into the male's arms, kissing him affectionately and doing shameless things.

After several contacts, Xiao 8 knew that humans, like foxes, are omnivorous animals that eat both meat and plants.

Human females must particularly like eating plant roots and rhizomes, which is why they are so moved.

Arctic foxes are different.

Fox likes to eat meat.

So, Xiao 8 gave the meat to his female and squatted in front of her, imitating the human form.

"Woo wow~" Dear fox~

"Woo-wah!" Follow me and I will catch lemmings for you to eat every day!

"Oh~" I do~

The female Arctic fox was instantly moved and accepted his 'proposal'.

After sharing the lemmings, the newlyweds run away together, looking for a suitable place to build a nest.

Yu Yijun watched them run away, pink bubbles filling the air around him, and took a big sip.

Perhaps Xiao 8 will never know that the flowers given by humans are not food.

What does it matter?

Even though his gift was not given any romantic meaning.

Even though their union was driven by the reproductive instinct, there was no so-called spiritual sustenance.

Foxes' emotions are very pure. Once they run away, they will live the rest of their lives there.

Yu Yiyun was so moved that she wrote a ten-thousand-word story in her mind for the CP she supported, and then she looked away with a feeling of unsatisfied desire.

Little 4 and Little 5 were still fighting, biting each other's ears and pulling out each other's fur.

"Oh oh!" You two have achieved something great, look at Xiao 8!

"Oh, oh, oh!" If I can't find a wife, I'll become a confinement nanny for Xiao 8's child!

"嘤?" Where is Xiao1?

Zhu Wang scolded for a long time before he realized that Xiao 1 had run away again.

“Squeak…”

“Woo woo.”

The two foxes hung their heads in grievance, their glass hearts shattered.

Yu Yiyun left the two of them here to reflect, and followed the smell to look for Xiao 1.

From a distance, Yu Yiyun smelled the scent of more than one fox and almost thought that Xiao 1 had finally come to his senses and learned how to find a wife on his own.

As I smelled it, I felt something was wrong.

The fox that Xiao 1 was chasing seemed to be a male fox.

“…”

Yu Yiyun's smile gradually disappeared, and her face was filled with speechlessness.

There are two gay idiots at home, which is really annoying.

If Lian Xiao1 also changes his goal and starts chasing the male fox, their family bloodline will simply not be passed on.

Yu Yiyun felt that the situation was not good, so he ran forward for a while and saw that Xiao 1 and the male fox were fighting fiercely.

Xiao 1 is the strongest fox in the den. Yu Yiyun worked hard for several months and only recently managed to catch up with his size.

In the entire Arctic, Xiao 1's size ranks among the best, not inferior to a male fox in its prime.

The fact that the strange fox could fight with Xiao 1 to a close draw shows how powerful he is.

The strange fox kicked Little 1 with its hind legs and barked loudly in anger, unable to understand why Little 1 suddenly went crazy.

In the spring, the male fox follows his instinct and returns to Fox Island, intending to find a mate quickly before the seabirds fly back to build nests.

By the time the cubs are born, the seabirds are just laying eggs and giving birth to chicks, increasing the survival rate of the babies.

With great joy in his heart, he met five young, beautiful and strong female vixens, and tried his best to show his charm to them.

Suddenly, a male fox jumped out, roaring and driving him away.

The male fox originally thought that Xiao 1 also liked the female fox and wanted to compete with him.

Arctic foxes practice monogamy, and there are five female guests here.

They can win the favor of the female fox with their own abilities.

Unexpectedly, Xiao 1 ignored the female fox and was only concerned with driving away the male fox.

The male fox got angry and decided not to be patient any longer, so he first knocked down his brother-in-law who was in the way.

Seeing that the two foxes were refusing to give in to each other, Yu Yiyun thought that if they continued the fight they might end up losing their lives, so he quickly ran over to separate the two foxes.

Little 1 had his ears and tail bitten. He bared his teeth ferociously and barked loudly at the strange fox.

The strange fox was caught off guard at first and had several pieces of its fur pulled out by Xiao 1, seriously damaging its appearance.

Fortunately, the temperature will rise again soon, and all Arctic foxes will turn into mixed-haired mutts, which are equally ugly.

The strange fox got up in a panic and looked at the powerful male fox on the opposite side. For a moment, hesitant about whether to continue the courtship.

Looking at the beautiful female fox watching from a distance, he decided to confront her head-on and bravely break through the encirclement of the male foxes.

Only the most powerful fox can marry a wife!

When Little 1 saw that the strange male fox dared to tease his sister, he became angry and continued to pounce on him while yelling.

Just at this moment, a little female fox watching from a distance took the initiative to approach and timidly made an invitation to Xiao 1.

"Woo, woo." Fox, I've been paying attention to you for a long time.

"Woooo." You are so awesome~

The female fox was also looking for a mate, but couldn't find one she liked.

Seeing that Xiao 1 was strong and brave, the female fox thought happily: If I mate with him, I will be able to raise many babies.

Happiness came too suddenly, and Xiao 1's roar was instantly choked in his throat, making a gentle doggy sound.

"Woo woo." You are so cute, please mate with me!

“…嘤?”…Big brother?!

Yu Yiyun raised his paw, intending to persuade Little 1 not to be reckless and to learn from Little 8 to proceed step by step.

Before Yu Yijun could speak, the female fox raised her tail happily.

"Woo woo!" Okay, okay!

“…”

Yu Yiyun was speechless.

Nature is so magical, every pot should be matched with its lid.

The strange fox was just about to break out when he saw Xiao 1 and the female fox running away, leaving only one male fox.

The opponent did not show any ferocity, but judging from the fact that it had easily separated himself and Xiao 1 just now, this fox must be very strong.

"Ah!" Come on, let's fight!

The strange fox bared its teeth and challenged Yu Yiyun.

Before Yu Yiyun could respond, the little sister foxes who had been watching ran over and surrounded the eldest brother.

"Hiss!" Enemy beast!

"Ouch!" It's so rude! How can you yell at your brother?

"Chirp." Yes, yes, you are too fierce.

"Ah~" He is quite handsome~

"Oh?" What?

[There is a traitor among us.jpg]

Yu Yiyun heard something different in her sister's cry, squinted her eyes to distinguish it carefully, then raised her paw and kicked Xiao 7 out.

"Ying!" Go away!

"Woo..." Brother...

"Oh!" Go quickly!

“Woo…”

Little 7, with his puppy ears drooping, was ostracized by his eldest brother and sisters. He finally mustered up the courage to approach the strange fox.

The strange fox was stunned and looked straight at Xiao 7. His pupils widened instantly, as if he couldn't believe that the beautiful female fox was favoring him.

After confirming that Xiao 7 had chosen him, the strange fox excitedly ran around her, whistling incoherently and licking Xiao 7 all over.

Yu Yiyun observed for a while and confirmed that the other party was a reliable person, so she led the remaining single sisters to continue the blind date conference.

As the days passed, the days grew longer, and more and more foxes of marriageable age arrived at Fox Island.

The Fox Corps found their partners one after another. In a blink of an eye, only Yu Yiyun and Yaomei were left near last year's nest.

Yu Yiyun favors the youngest sister the most, so of course he thought about finding the strongest, sturdiest, and most dedicated partner for her.

They met several foxes along the way, but the youngest sister was never interested and was always wary of the male foxes approaching.

The same situation happened several times, and Yu Yiyun finally confirmed that the youngest sister had no intention of seeking a mate for the time being.

Arctic foxes reach sexual maturity at 9-11 months, but not all Arctic foxes look for a mate in the first spring of their life.

Arctic foxes under one year old have not yet fully matured physically and are still some distance away from their peak.

Especially Arctic foxes like the youngest sister, who have delayed development in the early stages, are smaller than other foxes in the den.

In the competition for mates, strong and mature foxes have an advantage.

Foxes that can find a mate in the first year of their birth are the best among newborn Arctic foxes.

Under the leadership of Yu Yiyun, each member of the Fox Army is strong and capable of surviving in the cruel Arctic.

Although the youngest sister is small in size, her hunting skills are first-class.

However, she obviously wants to wait until she is more mature before choosing to start a family.

Yu Yiyun respected her sister's opinion, and if another male Arctic fox came over, she would chase after it and drive it away.

Two Arctic foxes voluntarily stayed alone near the den, waiting to reunite with their head mate.

After waiting for another two days, the first one to come back was Fox Dad.

After a few months' absence, the fox dad's fur became white and fluffy again, like a jumping cloud.

He found the nest with familiarity and began to clean and reinforce it without complaint, making it the most comfortable one.

When the mother fox comes home, you can live in a comfortable nest.

The fox father lay at the entrance of the cave and used his hind paws to clear out all the accumulated stones and mud.

The work was not yet finished when rustling sounds came from the cave.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out that the two older cubs came in to help.

“Ahhh!”

When the fox father saw the eldest cub, he greeted him loudly and excitedly.

When he found out that there were only the two of them, the fox father was visibly depressed for a moment, thinking that the remaining seven could not survive the cold winter.

If the food resources are abundant enough, the fox father also wants to stay with the cubs longer, longer.

Unfortunately, his ability is limited and he cannot feed so many mouths at the same time, so he must let the cubs learn to be independent.

The price of learning to be independent is really too painful.

Thinking of the seven cubs he had lost, the fox father was heartbroken...

"Squeak?"

Before the fox father could finish grieving, Xiao Liu led a male fox over and went into the cave to discuss, "Building a nest is too troublesome, can we give them the ancestral nest?"

The fox father's sadness was loaded to 50%. Seeing that his daughter and son-in-law were planning to occupy his nest, he was so angry that he drove her away.

Unexpectedly, after driving away the daughter, the son and daughter-in-law came.

Arctic foxes that are not even one year old have very limited survival experience, so building a nest is very difficult for them.

The unfilial children wanted to get something for free, so they all set their sights on their old fathers.

The fox father contacted and drove away several unfilial sons who wanted to occupy the fox's nest. He was so angry that he was gasping for breath and could no longer be sad.

The fox father was afraid that his evil sons would covet his nest again, so he repaired the nest overnight, marked the area nearby, and squatted at the entrance of the cave, waiting for his wife to return.

On the first day, my wife didn’t come back.

The next day, my wife didn't come back.

On the third day, the surrounding Arctic fox couples reunited with their partners one after another, but the wife still did not come back.

The fox father was obviously anxious. He moved from the cave entrance to the hill at the edge of the territory and transformed himself into the Wife-Looking Rock again.

In recent days, the daylight hours have been getting longer.

Not only Arctic foxes, but also seabirds nesting nearby are about to fly back to find mates.

It seemed that he was the only one in the entire Arctic Circle who had not yet found a partner.

Yu Yiyun knew that nature was full of all kinds of surprises, and there were many birds and animals that could not wait for their mates every day.

The Arctic fox has extremely strong vitality and can fight against the cold and hunger.

But their lives themselves are fragile and cannot withstand a fall, a collision, or a hunt.

Yu Yiyun silently came to Fox Dad and looked into the distance nervously.

The youngest sister didn't know why her father and brother were in such a hurry, so she followed them up the hill, put her paws together and looked into the distance.

Under the gaze of six pairs of eyes, a white dot appeared in the distance, looking around and sniffing everywhere impatiently.

Yu Yijun was too familiar with that action, and almost instantly, he confirmed the reason why Fox Mom took so long to come back.

She is lost.

Yu Yiyun was in mixed feelings.

What? Can the trait of being directionally challenged be inherited?

The fox father recognized the fox mother from afar, and excitedly ran over with his paws spread out, dancing around the fox mother in circles.

"Aoao!" The mother fox barked happily and chased the father fox wildly on the snowy field. Then they hugged each other and chased and played together, expressing their longing for each other during this period.

The two foxes cuddled together for a long time. The father fox brought the mother fox to the prepared nest, wagged his tail excitedly, and went out to catch lemmings for the mother fox.

The gestation period of an Arctic fox is about 51-52 days. During this period, the father fox must provide the mother fox with 3-5 lemmings every day to ensure that the mother fox has enough nutrition.

If a pregnant female fox does not take in enough food, she will begin to consume the embryos in her body.

This is a protective mechanism they evolved in desperate situations.

Seeing that the fox father was as excited as a dog, he was particularly active in catching lemmings.

Yu Yijun, Dehua No. 1, who is temporarily useless, decides to take Dehua No. 2, the youngest sister, to fool around in the name of exploring the surrounding environment.

It was early March, just as spring had arrived. The sea ice near the island had not yet melted, and the rocks were still bare and bleak.

Before long, various birds, including snow geese, white cranes, barnacle geese, Arctic terns, etc., will fly back one after another, making this extremely cold land full of vitality.

Before they came back, Yu Yijun took her youngest sister and other members of the Fox Corps who appeared randomly to practice rock climbing skills in preparation for welcoming the cute birds.

With the return of spring, not only birds but also Arctic hares move their activities northward to take a look at the fertile meadows after the arrival of polar day.

This made the fox army very happy. Not only did the Arctic hare provide them with food, but the rabbits were also good at digging holes, which gave the foxes a nest to use for free.

Arctic Hare: I... (swear words)

On this day, Yu Yiyun calculated the time until the Spring Equinox, and as usual, he was fooling around with a large piece of rabbit meat in his mouth.

After walking aimlessly for a long time, he suddenly found that the snow covering the outer edge of the mountain in the distance trembled twice, and then shattered into pieces.

avalanche?

Yu Yiyun had this thought, but felt it was unlikely.

This area is relatively open and is not a high-risk avalanche area.

Even if an avalanche really happens, it should start collapsing from the top of the mountain. How could it collapse from halfway up the mountain?

Yu Yijun was curious, so he moved closer and looked up at the mountain after the 'avalanche'.

I saw a bear's head popping out from where the snow first broke, and then a second bear's head.

"Bing!" Little bear!

When Yu Yiyun saw the little bear cub that had just emerged from hibernation for the first time, she was so adorable that she couldn’t take her eyes off it.

In winter, most polar bears choose to hibernate in ice caves or places with thicker snow, or they may not hibernate at all.

But in order to create a good growth environment for their cubs, pregnant polar bears will dig nests on the hillsides on land to protect the cubs' safety.

If a polar bear cub encounters another male bear, it is likely to be treated as a delicious meal.

Yu Yiyun watched without blinking as the little polar bear came out, rolled down the hillside on the slide, and bounced on the ground.

Before he could get up, the second bear also slid down and landed on top of the first bear.

The two little bears hugged each other and rolled around for a few rounds before the big bear came out of the den.

"roar!"

It let out a familiar roar, telling the two naughty kids not to run around.

When Yu Yiyun heard the voice, she cried out excitedly.

"嘤!" Bear, it's you!

"Roar!" Fox, you are still alive!

The polar bear hurriedly said hello to his good friend the fox, and without looking back chased after the bear child who was about to get lost.

Yu Yiyun waved her paw at him and thought sympathetically, "It's so hard to raise a cub."

It didn't take long for Fox to realize that he was the one who really needed sympathy.

"Bing!"

“Oh!”

“Oh my!”

Yu Yiyun listened to the cries of the little foxes and thought numbly: 15, how is that possible?

I must have counted wrong, right!

Yu Yiyun hoped for a lucky break and counted again.

1, 2, 3, 4...17.

Yu Yiyun smiled: See, I told you I counted wrong.