Fluffy Animals

Meet the largest member of the true foxes. Apart from their large size, Red foxes are distinguished from other fox species by their ability to adapt quickly to new environments. During the winter their fur is dense, soft, silky, and relatively long. Red foxes that live in northern areas of their range, the fur is very long, dense, and fluffy, but it is shorter, sparser, and coarser in southern populations. Among northern foxes, the North ...
American varieties generally have the silkiest guard hairs, while most Eurasian red foxes have coarser fur. Red foxes are among the most important fur-bearing animals harvested by the fur trade. Their pelts are used for trimmings, scarves, muffs, jackets, and coats. Less

Japanese macaques are also known as "snow monkeys" because some of them live in areas where snow covers the ground for months each year - no other non-human primate lives further north, nor in a colder climate. The coats of these macaques are well-adapted to the cold and their thickness increases as temperatures decrease. Japanese macaques can cope with temperatures as low as −20 °C (−4 °F). Less

The Pallas's cat is a small wild cat with long and dense light grey fur. It is well camouflaged and adapted to the cold climate in its native range, which receives little rainfall and experiences a wide range of temperatures. Due to its widespread range and assumed large population, the Pallas's cat is not threatened at present; however, in China, Mongolia, and Russia, this beautiful animal was once hunted for its fur in large numbers of more ...
than 10,000 skins annually. In China and the former Soviet Union, hunting of the Pallas's cat decreased in the 1970s when it became legally protected. Less

Snow leopards have thick fur adapted for living in a cold, mountainous environment. Their long and flexible tails are very thick due to fat storage, and are covered in a thick layer of fur; Snow leopards use them like a blanket to protect their face when asleep. The broad paws of these beautiful cats well distribute the body weight for walking on snow, and have fur on their undersides to increase the grip on steep and unstable surfaces; they ...
also help to minimize heat loss. Less

The coloration of the Red panda's fur serves as camouflage in the habitat with red moss and white lichen-covered trees. The guard hairs are longer and rougher while the dense soft undercoat is fluffier with shorter hairs. The guard hairs on the back have a circular cross-section and are 47-56 mm (1.9-2.2 in) long. The Red panda also has hair on the soles of the paws which allows it to walk in snow. It lives in forests, favoring steep slopes with ...
dense bamboo cover close to water sources. It is mainly an arboreal, solitary, and territorial creature. The Red panda is active at nighttime and during the day usually rests or sleeps in trees or other elevated spaces, stretched out prone on a branch with legs dangling when it is hot, and curled up with its hindlimb over the face when it is cold. When on the ground it will move quickly by trotting or bounding. Less

The winter fur of these cute creatures is long and thick with dense underfur and coarse guard hairs measuring 120 mm in length. The winter fur protects Raccoon dogs from low temperatures ranging down from −20° to −25 °C. These animals are native to East Asia but due to the fur trade, they have been widely introduced in Europe. When used on clothing, the fur of the Raccoon dog is often called "murmansky" or "tanuki" fur. If raised in captivity, ...
they can produce 100 g of wool of slightly lesser quality than that of goats. Less

These South American camelid mammals look similar to, and often confused with, llamas. However, alpacas are often noticeably smaller than llamas, and unlike llamas, they were not bred to be working animals but were bred specifically for their fiber. Alpaca fiber is used for making knitted and woven items, similar to sheep's wool. These items include blankets, sweaters, hats, gloves, scarves, a wide variety of textiles, and ponchos, in South ...
America, as well as sweaters, socks, coats, and bedding in other parts of the world. The fiber comes in more than 52 natural colors as classified in Peru, 12 as classified in Australia, and 16 as classified in the United States. In the textile industry, "alpaca" primarily refers to the hair of Peruvian alpacas, but more broadly it refers to a style of fabric originally made from alpaca hair, such as mohair, Icelandic sheep wool, or even high-quality wool from other breeds of sheep. Alpaca fleece is soft and possesses water and flame-resistant properties, making it a valuable commodity. Less

The fisher's fur changes with the season and males have coarser coats than females. In the early winter, the coats of these animals are dense and glossy keeping them warm in boreal forests. During the summer, the color becomes more mottled, as the fur goes through a molting cycle. Fishers have been trapped since the 18th century for their fur. Their pelts were in such demand that they were extirpated from several parts of the United States in ...
the early part of the 20th century. Conservation and protection measures have allowed the species to rebound, but their current range is still reduced from its historic limits. Less

Meet the goat-antelope that lives in dense mountain forests of Japan. The furry sorrow is seen as a national symbol of Japan and is most commonly known as kamoshika or kamoshishi. It has historically been given a variety of names, often based on its appearance, some of which translate as "mountain sheep", "wool deer", "nine tail cow", and "cow demon". Japanese people often characterize the serow as "weird" or "abnormal", and it is seen as a ...
"phantom animal" as it tends to live alone in the depths of distant forests and appears to observe forest workers from areas high in the mountains. The serow has a reputation in Japan for its speed and agility. Superior athletes are compared to the serow, as it is known not only for its agility but also its sprinting ability. Less

Olympic marmots are members of the squirrel family. They are about the size of a domestic cat and are the largest of the six marmot species found in North America. The warm coat of the Olympic marmot is double-layered and consists of soft thick underfur, for warmth, and coarser outer hairs. These animals live in colonies and use various forms of communication. When greeting each other, marmots will usually touch noses or nose to cheek; in ...
courtship rituals, they may interlock teeth and nibble each other's ears and necks. They may also engage in play fighting, in which two marmots on their hind legs push each other with their paws. When communicating vocally, they have four different types of whistles that include flat calls, ascending calls, descending calls, and trills. Less

Common wombats are marsupials that live in forested, mountainous areas of Australia. They dig extensive burrow systems with their rodent-like front teeth and powerful claws. Many wombats can live in the same burrow, and they usually live in the same burrow for their whole life. These animals are usually active at night but may come out during the day in cooler weather, especially in the early morning or late afternoon. By the way, the Common ...
wombat along with other species of wombats is protected in every Australian state. Many places in Australia have been named after the wombat, including a large number of places where they are now locally extinct in the wild. Less

The wolverine is the largest land-dwelling mustelid. It has very thick oily fur which is highly hydrophobic and resistant to frost. This has led to the wolverine's traditional popularity among hunters and trappers as a lining in jackets and parkas in Arctic conditions. Wolverines have scent glands under their tails which they use for marking territory and during the mating season. Their pungent odor has even given rise to the nicknames "skunk ...
bear" and "nasty cat." Less

Woolly monkeys occur in the rainforests of South America. They have thick soft coats and prehensile tails that assist in climbing and fulfill many functions of an opposable thumb. Woolly monkeys live in relatively large social groups and have an elaborate system of vocalization and olfactory, visual, and tactile communication. All these forms of communication are used to coordinate group activities, indicate aggression, affection, and marking, ...
and establish territories. Less

This adorable creature is the only species of flying squirrel found in Europe. A distinctive feature of the flying squirrel is the furry glide membrane or patagium, a flap of skin that stretches between the front and rear legs. By spreading this membrane it may glide from tree to tree across distances of over a hundred meters and have been known to record a glide ratio of 3.31, however, usually, it is 1-1.5. Less

The Silky anteater is the smallest of all known anteaters. It has a dense and soft fur that may range from grey to yellowish in color and has a silvery sheen. It is suggested that a Silky anteater usually dwells in silk cotton trees and because of its resemblance to the seed pod fibers of these trees, it can use the trees as camouflage and avoid attacks of predators. Silky anteaters are rarely seen in the forest, as during the day, they usually ...
sleep curled up in a ball. However, at night, they can be found more easily when they are foraging on lianas searching for ants. Less