FOX IN ICELAND

The relationship between man and fox• The artic fox is the first and only mammal in Iceland that

was not brougth here by humans• All others mammals (sheeps, cows, horses, goats,etc.)

came to Iceland with the settlers or later. • Despite that, the man have been struggeling with the fox

since settlement• To begin with, the struggle was most about that the fox

was killing sheeps but now the struggle is also about how the fox has destroyed bird life in sertain areas in Iceland.

HALLGRÍMUR PÉTURSON• Hallgrímur Pétursson (1614– October 27, 1674) was one of

Iceland's most famous poets • He made an poet about the Icelandic fox

• Þú sem bítur bóndans fé,• bölvuð í þér augun sé!• Stattu eins og stofn af tré• stirð og dauð á jörðunne.

• The poet is about: When the fox bites a sheep, he is cursed and wished a dead

• Hallgrímur was a religious man, despite of that he wished the fox to die. This reflect the Icelanders opinion of the fox.

The fox• Ásmundur Einar Daðason, member of the Icelandic parliament

wrote this about the Icelandic fox• The fox is one of Icelands native inhabitant and he has its right

to be that. On the other hand, since settlement, the human have tryed to limit the size of the stock to minimize it damage to livestock and other animals.

• In 30 years, the size of the artic fox stock in Iceland has tenfolded

• Fox with 22 meadow pipits in his mouth.

What does the fox eat?• Páll Hersteinsson, biophysic, researched what the main food of the

fox was:• From april to august, birds where 80% of the fox food• In september the birds are only 35% of the fox food, but berries

(bluberries and crowberries mainly) get up to 35%• 10% of the fox food came from the shore (mussel, larvas,

amphipoda)• Eggs and sheeps/lambs

Fox farming in Iceland• Fox farming first begined in Iceland the year 1930.• In the year 2004 there where 13 fox farms in Iceland• In the year 2009 there was one fox farm• In the year 2013 there was none fox farm left in Iceland.

• The farms did not breed artic fox, they mainly breeded red fox and a mix of fox from Alaska, Canada, Siberia, Greenland and Svaldbard

• The fox farming did not turn out like the farmers hoped. It was a struggle since it begined until it ended. Mostly because og low prices for the skins.

Why are men struggeling with the fox? • The fox have exterminated at least one bird species in Iceland

and birdlife in Iceland have changed very much past years because of the fox

• In the Hornstrandir area in West-Fjords, the fox is preserved.• Due to that, birdlife in the Hornstrandir area has tumbled

down• Hungry foxes have been attacking to sheeps in the wild

through the centurys

Fox trap

• Before the time of the gun, Icelanders hunted foxes in small trap• The trap was pilled up rocks with a small gap.

Inside the trap there was an bait (generally horsemeat) and that was connected to a stone that closed the gap so the fox could not escape • After the gun came to Iceland, hunters have

mostly used guns to kill foxes

Old fox trap

Sources• http://gudmann.photoshelter.com/img/pixel.gif• http://www.ferlir.is/?id=10656• http://

animalgalleries.org/albums/Small-Land-Mammals/Fox-Galleries/Arctic-Fox-Gallery/Arctic%20Fox%20Polar%20Picture%20summer%20cub%20pup.jpg

• http://asmundur.is/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Refamynd-21-300x200.jpg• http://asmundur.is/2012/08/fjolgun-refa-og-rong-stefna-rikisstjornarinnar/• http://

timarit.is/view_page_init.jsp?issId=228621&pageId=3100425&lang=is&q=REFI%20ref• http://

timarit.is/view_page_init.jsp?issId=114811&pageId=1423029&lang=is&navsel=666&q=kransaugu

Any questions?