. The Canadian field-naturalist. 1975 Notes 465. P ^ NEWFOUNDLAND ISLAND :t Figure 2. Map showing possible movement of arctic fox on sea ice. onto the ice and southward farther than normal to find the ice edge since open water is necessary for good seal hunting. As spring advanced, the bears and the attendant scavenging foxes con- tinued southward on the heavy ice. Sealers, RCMP detachments in northern Newfoundland, and the ice patrol reported more bears and arctic foxes on the island and in the surrounding sea ice, in the spring of 1973 than at any time in recent years. In March of most years
. The Canadian field-naturalist. 1975 Notes 465. P ^ NEWFOUNDLAND ISLAND :t Figure 2. Map showing possible movement of arctic fox on sea ice. onto the ice and southward farther than normal to find the ice edge since open water is necessary for good seal hunting. As spring advanced, the bears and the attendant scavenging foxes con- tinued southward on the heavy ice. Sealers, RCMP detachments in northern Newfoundland, and the ice patrol reported more bears and arctic foxes on the island and in the surrounding sea ice, in the spring of 1973 than at any time in recent years. In March of most years the pack ice reaches its most southerly extent and envelops all of Newfoundland except the south coast (Hare 1952). Trinity Bay is ice-filled for most of March and April. Notre Dame Bay is normally ice-filled from February to early May, some years until June. Personal communication with Ice Fore- casting Central, Environment Canada, Ottawa, reveals that the rate of drift of the ice, southward, is about 10 km a day. At this rate it would take about 3 months for ice to drift from Hudson Strait to Newfoundland. A number of vessels were engaged in the spring seal hunt close to the area where the fox was released on 11 April. The fox would have had an ample supply of seal-carcass food pro- vided for it if it remained on the ice in that area. How long it remained there is, of course, not known but it would have had to journey south- ward to the island sometime before the ice dis- integrated in late May. Macpherson (1968), reporting on another long-distance movement of an arctic fox, suggests that this species may possess navigational ability and a homing instinct. The present observation may provide evidence for the former, but not the latter ability. Once on land, the spring snow crusts made travelling easy. By late May or early June all snow would have disappeared. Survival during the summer would not have been difficult. But winter, with its 1 m of soft snow accumulation in Janua
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