Fox nose-dives into snow This is the incredible moment a fox was captured dive-bombing into deep snow to catch a mouse. For about 20 minutes the red fox, as wily and tricky as old Reynard himself, prowled around tracking the sounds of rodents below the snow cover.
Suddenly he stood on his hind legs and leaped several feet into the air.
Then he dived towards the snow after his prey with all the merciless accuracy of a World War II Stuka dive-bomber.
The power generated forced his head deep into the snow to where the mice thought they were safe, leaving only his back legs and tail visible.
Wildlife photographer Richard Peters caught this amazing moment of nature in the raw at Lamar Valley in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.
He said: 'We watched it walk across the snow, stopping from time to time to listen for mice activity underneath the snow cover.
'It was so quick. The fox leapt into the air and dived into the snow twice to catch a meal. I barely had time to frame the pictures.’
Red foxes are among the shyest animals in the park and are rarely seen.
They hunt rodents such as mice and voles and also eat grasshoppers and berries, though food is much harder to find in winter when temperatures hit minus 20 degrees at night and are rarely above zero during the day.