It is just before sunrise on India's Karakoram West Tibetan Plateau A corsac fox silently descends a grassy slope At more than 4,000 feet 1,219 m above sea level the treeless frozen tundra is spattered with rocks and patches of snow The fox spots a vole emerging from its nest The vole's winter store of food is nearly exhausted The small rodent wastes no time in dashing toward a nearby stream unaware
of the fox watching its every move Despite coloration that masks the vole among the dry grass the creature cannot escape the fox's gaze The fox follows the vole undetected At the edge of the stream the vole stuffs its mouth with fresh new grass Suddenly the fox leaps from behind a rock pouncing on the vole with a crushing blow As the sun rises over the Himalayas the fox dines on its first meal of the day
