Mouse Trap

Wild animals don’t perform on demand. Any wildlife enthusiast will attest to that. Photographer Dmitrii Viliunov spent four winters tracking  wild foxes, all in preparation of  this perfect winter moment..

Red Foxes can hear a mouse squeak from 30 metres (100 feet) away, a skill that enables these resilient mammals to survive the freezing cold temperatures of winter. Shockingly, a recent study from the Czech Republic discovered that when Red Foxes pounce in a North-Easterly direction, they caught their prey 73% of the time, as opposed to 18% in any other direction. This surprising fact has some researchers wondering whether Red Foxes are using Earth’s magnetic fields to guide their hunts.

It’s details such as these that highlight the incredible connection between the Earth and all its inhabitants.

This award-winning photograph is from the seventh season, “The Moment,” of the Hamdan bin Mohamed bin Rashid al Maktoum International Photography Award (HIPA) Archive. The Climate Tribe has partnered with HIPA, leveraging the power of photography to inspire global awareness of sustainability and advance climate action. The first collaboration under this partnership is the COP28 Photography Competition, which is currently in the judging and verification process. Winners to be announced!