Polar Bear Building a Snowman

About this drawing

A polar bear and snowman pairing is pure storybook fun, but the real animal has a surprise of its own: its fur is not actually white, and the skin underneath is black.

Each hair on a polar bear is clear and hollow. Sunlight bouncing around inside those hairs makes the coat look white or creamy, the same way snow looks white even though ice is clear. That pale look helps the bear blend into the Arctic while it hunts.

Under the fur, the skin is dark. Dark colors soak up heat from the sun, so it helps keep the bear warm. The coat itself comes in two layers, a dense underfur close to the body and longer guard hairs on top that shed wind and water.

Below the skin sits a thick layer of fat. With so much insulation, polar bears can actually overheat if they run for long, which is one reason they usually move at an easy, energy-saving pace across the ice. Even its ears and tail are small, which means less surface for heat to escape. Every part of a polar bear's body seems designed for life in one of the harshest climates on Earth.

• polar bear
• snowman
• winter
• arctic animals