fatalities are not known. Snowy owl parents have been seen to aggressively attacked glaucous gulls, arctic fox and dogs in breeding ground in Utqiaġvik. Non-predatory animals like caribou in Utqiaġvik and sheep (Ovis aries) in Fetlar are attacked as well, possibly to avoid potential trampling of the eggs or the young. Males are said to do the majority of nest defense but the female will also often become involved as well. Analysis showed in Lapland, Sweden, that females in nest defense against people engaged in vocal displays (warning and mewing calls) and that males did not engage in mewing but did engage in most hooting calls, many warning calls and almost all physical attacks. In other instances, distraction displays are engaged in against predators, with a "broken-wing act" including high, thin squeals interspersed with weird squeaks, often taking flight only to quickly fall from the sky and imitate a struggle. One author recorded a male to draw him about from the nest before ceasing. 77% of 45 distraction displays in Lapland, Sweden were by females. Development of young Hatching intervals are generally from 1 to 3 days, quite often within 37–45 hours apart. New chicks are semi-altricial (i.e. typically helpless and blind), initially being white and rather wet but dry by the end of the first day. The weight of 7 hatchlings was , with an average of while 3 were . Due to the pronounced asynchrony of the egg-laying and hatching, the size difference between siblings can be enormous and in some cases when the smallest chick weighs only , the biggest chick already has attained a weight of around . When the oldest chick is about 3 weeks, the female will start to hunt as well as the male and both may directly feed the young although in some cases they may not need hunt very much if lemmings are particularly numerous. Caches of lemmings around a nest may include more than 80 lemmings that can support the family. Unlike many owls, the chicks of snowy owls are not known to behave aggressively toward one another or to engage in siblicide, perhaps in part due to the need for energy conservance. Some cases of cannibalism of chicks by the family group were thought to be cases where chicks die from other causes. When they are about 2 weeks, the chicks may begin to walk around the nest site