Species: Vulpes vulpes = Common fox. Breeding foxes Daily lifestyle of a fox

In breeding work with the fox, the main attention is paid to increasing the reproductive ability of animals and improving the quality of the skins. This is achieved by improving the herd of each farm and importing high-quality young animals from breeding farms. To improve the reproductive ability, young animals are selected from medium and large litters from females with good maternal qualities and properly prepared for breeding. It is necessary to exclude random overlapping of females by different males, which does not allow assessing the animals by the quality of the offspring.
Each farm determines the desired type of fox in terms of hair structure and color, as well as the leading trait, the improvement of which will increase the economic effect of breeding to the greatest extent. The length of the hair (awn, down), the size of the silvery zone and the pigmented tip of the awn are traits that are determined by multiple genes. These features of inheritance must be taken into account in breeding work.
Selection for lengthening the hairline often leads to the appearance of collapse, drooping hair on the sides and excessive development of the mane - lengthening of the hair in the neck and shoulder blades.
Lightening the pubescence of foxes worsens the color of the skins and usually increases the severity of the defect - the cross-section of the awn. This is due to an increase in the number of platinum hairs in the pubescence due to a decrease in silvery and fully pigmented ones, as well as an increase in the silvery zone due to a reduction in the length of the pigmented tip of the awn. Lightening of the pubescence is usually combined with the appearance of a light veil, the severity of which depends on the ratio of the length of the pigmented tip of the awn to the width of the silvery zone. Studies have shown that platinum hair is more prone to splitting and breakage than silver hair.
It is necessary to take into account the structural features of the hairline of animals when determining the expediency of their importation. Thus, the introduction and mating of foxes with different lengths of the awn and down can significantly change the manifestation of silveriness and the severity of the veil in the offspring due to a change in their ratio between the silvery zone and the pigmented tip of the awn.
To eliminate pubescence defects during grading, the degree of cross-section and piled hairline, the presence of a mane are noted. Parents who produce unwanted offspring are culled. In order to prevent cross-section, which is widespread in animals with clarified pubescence, it is recommended to select for a decrease in platinum and an increase in silvery awn in the hairline. To do this, foxes with a silver content of 100% must be mated with foxes with a silver content of 75%. If there are puppies with woolly hair in the litter, it is recommended to cull the entire litter.
Foxes with a black shiny awn, dark gray underfur, a pure white silver ring 10-15 mm wide, a well-defined belt and a cross on the shoulder blades meet modern requirements to the greatest extent. A large amount of platinum hair in pubescence is undesirable. Should be left on a tribe of beasts with 90% silver for normal veil and 100% silver for heavy veil. Foxes with 100% silver and a light veil for uniform matching are not allowed.
Content. Foxes are bred in different parts of the country: in the northwest, north and in the center of the European part, in Ukraine and Belarus, in the Volga region, in the Urals, in Western and Eastern Siberia, in the Far North.
Until 1945, foxes were kept mainly in cages with an area of ​​3x4 m with a wooden floor. They were replaced by smaller cells [(2-3) * 1.2 m] with a mesh floor raised above the ground. At present, cages for foxes are most often installed in cages 290 cm long, 95 cm wide and 65 cm high, which can be divided into 2-3 compartments with inserted partitions. For periods of pregnancy, whelping and lactation, a nest is inserted into one of the compartments. Females during these periods occupy the entire cell. After jigging the young animals, the house is removed, and the paddock is divided by partitions into 2-3 compartments, and 2 heads of young animals are placed in each compartment. Each compartment has a door and a rotating feeder inserted into a wooden frame, embedded in a mesh wall. In practice, another type of feeder is also provided, which has the form of an outer shelf inclined to the wall at an acute angle.
Cages for foxes can be with stationary houses of the same size, but this reduces the number of cages in sheds. The house is installed between paddocks, each of which can be divided into two compartments.
Males are kept in sheds, in paddocks of the same size as for females. The length of the paddock is 3 m, the height is 1.0 m. The paddocks can also be divided into 2-3 compartments and contain young animals in them.
The plug-in house for foxes (its size is 75x80x55 cm) consists of a nest compartment and a “front” one, has a round hole with a diameter of 25 cm. The bottom is mesh with a wooden removable floor, double walls - for warmth. The stationary house is larger (75x90x65 cm), a nest is inserted into it, the gap between the walls (10 cm) is filled with insulating material. The house has a common wooden roof and two separate ones - one is located above the nest, the other - above the "front"; the floor of the house is double mesh (permanent) and wooden (inset). The "front" is connected to the paddock with a wooden pipe with a valve.
In the Far North, in the forest-tundra and tundra zones, there are heavy snow drifts, so ordinary sheds and cages for keeping animals of the main herd are unsuitable here. Sheds are placed on piles with a floor-flooring raised in the aisle. The height of the racks (from the ground to the flooring) is 50-60 cm. For protection from the wind, sheds are built with a closed corridor, a flooring raised in the aisle and mesh paddocks extending beyond the edge of the roof.
In the northern regions, foxes enter the rut somewhat later, because due to the shorter daylight hours and low illumination, the onset of the breeding season is delayed. Animals are kept in cages with well-lit ranges, and electricity is used during the preparation for the rut.
Race preparation. Care for adult animals in the summer-autumn period provides for feeding, watering, cleaning the cages, monitoring the health of animals; in addition, they control the live weight of animals and the course of molting.
In practice, preparation for the rut of adult animals should begin after jigging of young animals. It is necessary to carefully monitor the condition of emaciated females - feed them plenty, periodically show them to a veterinarian who can prescribe them vitamin or medications. Exhaustion during the summer months entails an increase in the mortality of animals, a deterioration in the quality of their hairline and a decrease in reproductive capacity in the next production year.
Since August, foxes begin to prepare the body for reproduction: follicles appear and grow in the ovaries, and in November the uterus enlarges. At this time, feeding should be improved accordingly.
In summer, the ovaries in females are approximately 2 times smaller in size than during estrus. At the end of August - September, they increase, growth of follicles is noted, the walls of the uterus grow. At this time, the concentration of sex hormones in the blood increases in both adults and young females. At the end of December - January, pre-estrus changes are found in the genital tract of females.
In males during this period (end of August - beginning of September), the activation of the gonads is also noted, which is especially active in November - December: the testes increase by 2-3 times compared to the summer period, androgen levels in the blood rise sharply.
The metabolism of foxes decreases from the end of July, resulting in an increase in live weight. In December, with normal preparation, it is 30-40% higher than in summer.
The change in metabolism and the development of the genital organs depend on the length of the daylight hours. Violation of the light regime (keeping animals in dark cages, late transportation to another farm) negatively affects the development of their genital organs, while additional lighting contributes to earlier estrus in females. To speed up the start of the rut, young females, in which estrus usually occurs later than in adults, are planted in open cages.
To control the preparation of animals for the rut, their weight and fatness are taken into account. Medium-sized young and adult females should weigh 6 kg by December 1, males - 7 kg. In poorly prepared animals, the rut is delayed, many females can bring few puppies or be completely left without offspring.
It characterizes the state of animals and the course of molting. If summer hair loss is delayed or winter hair does not grow in time, this indicates a violation in the animal's body, which may affect reproduction. In late June - early July, the summer awn of young animals begins to be replaced by winter, in the second half of August the change is intensive. In adult foxes, the hairline begins to change in April and actively proceeds in May - July, in some it lingers until September.
After grading, the main herd is finally completed. The remaining animals for the tribe are placed in cages, which are pre-repaired, cleaned and disinfected. A stencil is hung on each cell. All animals are checked for gender, the presence of a tattoo on their ears, and they make sure that the number on the ear matches the number indicated in the stencil. At this time, the breeder serves not only breeding animals, which he prepares for future breeding, but also animals intended for slaughter.
During the slaughter period, fur breeders, as a rule, are involved in the processing of furs, so less attention is paid to breeding animals. This circumstance may adversely affect the output of puppies in the next production year. First of all, this applies to first-year females and males, whose growth and body formation ends during this period, and therefore they need enhanced nutrition compared to adult animals.
Gon. The rutting period for foxes begins in the second half of January and ends in mid-March. Usually, in young females, the rut begins somewhat later than in adults (especially if they are poorly prepared for the rut).
Before the start of the rut, the condition of the testes is checked in males - they must be elastic and well developed. Males with bad testicles are not allowed to cover females.
Estrus in foxes lasts 7-11 days, hunting in females occurs once during the entire breeding season and lasts 2-3 days. Missing the hunt entails the loss of the litter in the current year. The onset of estrus and sexual hunting can be determined by the behavior of animals and the condition of the external genitalia (loop). From January 15-20, every 3 days, the state of the loop is checked in females. After its first changes are noticed, which usually precede the hunt for several days, the check is carried out after 1-2 days.
Changes in the external genital organs of females go through several stages. The first stage - the loop swells slightly, turns white and becomes noticeable upon examination. The urine of the female acquires a characteristic color. If pairs are put off, the female begins to play with the male. This is the first, pre-estrus stage, which lasts 2-3 days. The second stage (1-2 days) - the loop swells even more. The third stage - the transition to hunting - the loop swells strongly, becomes convex, the females take a defensive posture in relation to the male. The duration of the stage is 1-2 days. The fourth stage - hunting - the loop is almost round, dark, you can see the release of a small amount of mucus. During this period, when the male is replanted, coverage occurs. This stage lasts 2-3 days. The fifth stage is the beginning of dormancy. The swelling of the loop subsides, it turns white. At the beginning of this stage, coverage is still possible. Then the female does not let the male go.
Some females, especially young ones, may experience a “silent” estrus, in which all these changes in the genital organs are very weak. In order not to miss the hunt, such females should be regularly planted with males, even if their loop does not change.
Each fur breeding department should have a notebook with the numbers of females. It regularly records the progress of estrus and the state of the loop.
There are two methods of conducting the rut: 1) in females, the state of the loop is examined every other day, and those who have begun estrus are placed next to the male assigned to them; 2) to the males, in turn, after 1-2 days, all the females assigned to each of them are planted (regardless of the state of the loop). Having adopted the second method, one should nevertheless check the state of the loop in females, since due to the insufficient activity of the male, the female may miss the hunt. If changes in the loop in the female characterize the period of hunting, she should be put down with a backup male.
Females are planted with males 30-40 minutes after feeding, when the animals are most active. It is not worth planting pairs immediately after feeding, since animals that have just eaten are passive and do not pay attention to each other. It is possible to plant animals in the second half of the day, after a 2-3-hour rest of the male. The female is left in the male's cage for 40-50 minutes. Coitus lasts from several minutes to 1.5 hours, on average 20-30 minutes. Mating cannot be interrupted. After the first mating, the female is placed next to the same male for re-coating over the next two days.
Ovulation of eggs in females occurs within 2-3 days, so mating that occurs on the second day of hunting is most desirable. The sperm of the male remains in the genital tract of the female for about a day, at about the same time the ovulated egg is able to be fertilized. When mating on the second day of the hunt, the sperm is able to fertilize the eggs that ovulated on the first, second and third days of the hunt. In the case of mating on the first day, the sperm may die before ovulation of the eggs, while mating on the third day, the eggs released on the first day may die. With repeated mating, the number of missing females decreases.
Sometimes the following technique is used to activate females. At the beginning of the rut, 3-4 females are planted in open cages; daily or every other day, different males are planted in them for several hours. If the female comes into the hunt and begins to allow the male to mate, she is immediately set aside and the next day they are planted to cover the male assigned to her. In case of unexpected coverage, it is necessary to mark the females, for example, to paint their tails. This makes it possible to establish which of the females is covered and which is not.
If on the same day two females are planted with the male, he is allowed to make two matings - in the morning and in the afternoon. Covering females with two different males is not recommended, as it does not increase the yield of puppies and, moreover, does not make it possible to establish their origin. This is possible only at the end of the rut, when the sexual activity of males and the usefulness of their sperm is reduced. All puppies from such matings are slaughtered.
To identify the state of the female, it is especially necessary to carefully observe the behavior of the placed animals for the first 20-30 minutes.
Among males, sometimes there are covering females, but not fertilizing many or none of them. Therefore, it is necessary to assess the quality of sperm under a microscope. Covered females after the end of estrus and the "decline" of the loop are considered pregnant. They are put in already prepared cages in which they will have to whelp.
Pregnancy and whelping. Pregnancy in foxes lasts 51-52 days, sometimes 49-54 days. In most cases, its presence can be established by the appearance of the female. In a pregnant female, by the 40-45th day of pregnancy, the abdomen increases and slightly sags. She becomes calmer, slower, lies a lot. Pregnancy can not always be determined by appearance, some females do not change outwardly until whelping. To determine pregnancy, females are probed 24-26 days after the last mating, and in the morning before feeding. Animals are carefully picked up so that they cannot move, and the abdominal cavity is carefully palpated (rough handling is unacceptable, as this can lead to abortion). In a pregnant female, embryos are palpated as small formations located in a chain. Sometimes, when there are few embryos, they are easily confused with fecal lumps, therefore, if there is no certainty, the check should be repeated after 2-3 days.
When determining pregnancy early by probing, it is possible to kill females that have missed with good pubescence in early spring, without overexposure until autumn. Currently, an average of 13% of females remain without offspring. The causes of omissions can be different: fetal resorption, abortion, premature birth. It is sometimes possible to establish an abortion by the presence of traces of blood, the remains of the fetus, the greenish-black color of the feces, which is observed after the female eats the fetus.
Care of pregnant females consists in their timely feeding and careful handling. It is necessary to avoid noises that are unusual for animals so that they are not frightened, uninterruptedly supply water, and maintain cleanliness in houses and cages.
In the stencil of each female put down the estimated date of whelping. It is determined by adding 51 days to the coverage date. 10-15 days before whelping, houses and cages are prepared: they are thoroughly cleaned, disinfected, a dry, clean nest is inserted into the house. In cold weather, in addition, the house is insulated: insulation material is placed between the bottom, walls, ceiling of the nest and the house: hay, straw, shavings, etc. In sheds, the house is inserted inside the cage. In warm weather (above 8-10 ° C), the house should not be insulated, as the female will be hot in it, and she can whelp in a cage where the puppies can freeze.
In the northern regions, before whelping, a partition with a hole is inserted into the nest. The manhole in the partition in severe frosts is closed with a canopy of tarpaulin. The nest is placed on a layer of insulating material, the side walls and ceiling around the nest are insulated, as well as the front in the houses. The nest and the front are filled with bedding. At very low temperatures, the houses are also insulated from the outside.
During the whelping period, fur breeders are on duty on the farm. The duty officer monitors the behavior of whelping and recently whelping females. In case of dysfunctional childbirth, he provides assistance to females or, if the case is difficult, calls a veterinarian.
Whelping in foxes begins on March 10-15 and ends in early May. Normal childbirth lasts 1.5-2 hours, 1-15 puppies will be born.
Before whelping, many females change their behavior. They either run uneasily from the cage to the house and vice versa, or scrape the walls of the house, or do not leave it at all. On the eve or on the day of whelping refuse food.
On the born puppy, the female tears the placenta with her teeth and gnaws the umbilical cord. Holding the placenta between her teeth, she shakes her head and frees the puppy from it. She quickly licks a wet puppy, shifts it to her stomach and covers it with her tail. After 30 minutes, the puppy is already starting to suck milk. The whelping of females is judged by the squeak of puppies, which is periodically heard from the house. Puppies squeak if the female disturbs them with her movement. Well-fed, healthy puppies, when the female calms down, quickly stop squeaking. An abnormal viscous squeak indicates trouble in the nest.
On examination, pay attention to the condition of the puppies, their position and the behavior of the female. Normal puppies weigh 80-100 g, are covered with dense short hairs and lie in a heap, they are dry, warm, with rounded, milk-filled bellies. Puppies scattered around the nest actively slide into a pile. The female well raises 6-7 puppies.
When examining each puppy, they take it in their hands, because among them there may be weakened or frozen, which are difficult to identify in the general mass. In addition, there may be premature and dead puppies in the litter.
A litter failure is often the result of a female not being able to give birth, or having poor maternal reflexes and poor care of the puppies, or the puppies are born very weak.
If the litter is large, weak puppies should be transferred to a freshly bred female with a small litter (2-3 puppies).
Poor litter condition, the poor condition of the puppies, is caused by the fact that the puppies cannot suckle well due to the presence of fluff around the female's nipples. In these cases, the fluff must be removed. Often, puppies cannot suckle due to the fact that the mammary glands of the female are very elastic and overflowing with milk. Excess milk is removed and the glands are massaged. If the female has little milk, she is additionally fed, and part of the litter is deposited.
Growing young. Young animals are registered on the tenth day after whelping, taking into account the total number of puppies born and their condition. For the first 20-25 days, puppies feed only on mother's milk. After two weeks, the puppies open their eyes and ears, teeth erupt.
It is not uncommon for one or two puppies in a litter to be developmentally delayed. This may be the result of poor maternal qualities of the female or the occurrence of diseases in puppies, including beriberi C (red feet).
If the puppies cannot suckle and the mother does not pay attention to them, they are kept in wooden boxes heated by electric lamps. It is necessary that the temperature in the box does not exceed 20-25 ° C. Higher temperatures are detrimental to puppies.
Every 4-5 hours the puppies are fed. It is first necessary to wipe the abdomen with it in the direction from the chest to the lower abdomen and remove the excreted feces and urine. When the weakened puppies are strong enough, they are placed next to the female.
Weak puppies and puppies with signs of red feet must be given at one time 1 ml (a whole eye dropper) of a 2-3% solution of ascorbic acid with glucose. Depending on the condition of the puppies, ascorbic acid is given once or 3-4 times a day until a complete cure. The presence of red-footed puppies is noted in the stencil of the female for her subsequent culling.
In the case when the female has little milk, wet nurses are used to raise the young.
Some females carry their pups. This can be caused by the female's excitement due to some unusual noise, the presence of a dead or weak puppy in the nest, disturbing the female with her squeaking puppy, as well as mastitis (hardening of the mammary glands) if the puppies do not suckle well. Sometimes females carry puppies for no apparent reason. In this case, they limit the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe cage or close the female in the house. With a lack of milk from the mother, puppies are raised by a wet nurse.
On the 20-25th day of life (and even earlier with a lack of milk from the mother), puppies begin to be fed. The feeder is placed in the house.
The introduction of top dressing is associated with rapid contamination of the houses, so they should be cleaned regularly. With the onset of warm weather, the nest is removed from the houses, and at high temperatures, the wooden floor is also removed.
Growing young. Puppies are weaned at 45-50 days of age; if the mother has little or no milk at all, then a few days earlier. Usually all the puppies are put away at once and kept together for several days, and then they are seated two by two in a cage (same-sex and opposite-sex pairs).
When breeding foxes, individual branding and tattooing of animals are used. Young animals are tattooed in June - August (at the age of 2-3 months) - a number is applied to the inner, hair-free surface of the ear.
The ear is pierced with special forceps with numbers inserted into them. Black mascara is rubbed into the punctures. The serial number of the animal is usually applied to the right ear, and the last digits of the year of birth are applied to the left ear. Every year the serial numbers start from the first. The tattoo number must correspond to that indicated in the journal of young animals.
In breeding farms, all young animals are tattooed, in commercial farms - young animals of the breeding core. The rest of the young animals are assigned a conditional number, which is written in the puppy's stencil hanging not in its cage.
From 3 to 5 months in puppies, milk teeth are replaced by permanent ones. In the first months of life, the limbs grow especially actively in puppies, then the trunk. By the age of 6-7 months, the physique of the young animals is close to adult animals. The most intensive growth is noted in foxes up to 2 months (the mass increases by 20-27 times), then it slows down, by 5-6 months the young growth has the size of adult animals.
Growing young animals, they carefully monitor its development and the course of molting of the hairline. Control groups of animals are weighed every month, which makes it possible to monitor their growth. At the age of about 2 months in foxes, starting from the muzzle and paws, outer hair appears, by 4-5 months it develops on the whole body. These signs serve as the main indicators for the preliminary selection of breeding stock in August. Poorly developed animals and with deviations from the normal course of molting, as well as with poor silveriness, are culled.
Breeding animals and animals intended for slaughter are provided with appropriate conditions. Breeders are fed abundantly and kept in well-lit cages. Rejected animals are kept in shaded cages so that under the action of sunlight their skins do not deteriorate, and the maturation of pubescence accelerates.
To obtain high-quality skins, foxes intended for slaughter in September - October are combed 1-3 times to remove matted shedding hair. In September, their diet is reduced, otherwise they will overripe and the awn will be cut.
The day-to-day work of the farm during the raising of young animals is primarily about feeding and watering the animals regularly, as well as maintaining cleanliness on the farm and especially in the houses. When animals are kept in clean cages, cases of their disease are almost excluded, the skin has fewer defects.
Slaughter begins in the second half of November. At first, it is carried out selectively, since not all foxes have pubescence at the same time.

Most hunters, especially beginners, dream of becoming owners of such a valuable trophy as a fox in winter fur... in the morning. Even shot, but all unsuccessfully.

An ambush is arranged in a place where accumulations of chasing fox tracks were found. The proximity of holes increases the chances of success. Photo: fotolia.com

Only on February 15, 1972 (when I was 23) did the gossip finally part with her luxurious fur coat.

I remember that, having handed over the skin to the collection point and received about 10 rubles, I bought myself an electrogloss for photographs, and treated my parents with sweets with the rest of the money.

A lot of water has flowed under the bridge since then, more than a dozen foxes have been caught, but that one, the first one, is remembered as it is now!

The reason for those long-standing failures lay in the fact that somewhere I read: you need to shoot foxes with small grapeshot. And so, having loaded five "zeroes", he missed or wounded more than one fox in the twilight.

There was no limit to the frustration until he was convinced that such a hunt required cartridges with the first or zero number of shot sprinkled with starch. Even better, if the fraction is consistent with the narrowing of the trunks.

For my IZH-54, I then selected the agreed shot separately for the right (pay) and left (choke) barrels.

Agreed - when in the choke narrowing of the barrel, on the powder pad or wad inserted there, in an even layer, without gaps, a number of pellets of one or another number are placed (do not forget to remove the wad from the barrel after this operation).

Loading the cartridges with the number of shots chosen in this way, the shots are carefully stacked on top of each other, layer by layer, sprinkling them with starch until the weight of the projectile reaches the selected value. It is better to use folder sleeves and seal the neck with an asterisk. In severe frost, they are more reliable than hardened plastic ones, in which occasionally a tubular part flies out of the barrel, along with the projectile, which is extremely dangerous.

Now about the hunt itself. In the central part of the European territory of Russia, rutting begins in late January - early February, and ends in late March - early April.

Unfortunately, in March, in the midst of gossips' love games, hunting is already closed. According to my observations, over the past few decades, the rut has gradually shifted closer to the spring period. If earlier, at the end of January, there were already clear signs of an intense rut, now it begins in early - mid-February.

And what are these signs?

Foxes begin to take an active interest in each other's tracks, use roads and ski tracks more often; individual lines of footprints merge into paths, each hummock standing in the way, a bunch of blades of grass, a column, a snow dump is marked with the urine of animals.

Males, just like dogs do, raise their paw, females sit down, leaving a few drops of urine, or even a bunch of litter in a conspicuous place, thereby informing other individuals about their readiness for mating.

On large glades and fields one can see an abundance of chasing tracks and jumps, a continuous snowy alley, sometimes even with shreds of fox hair lost in fights. At night, on the ambush, you can often hear the fuss and squealing of animals, the rude barking of solitary males looking for females.

The male is constantly on the move and every 5-10-20 minutes marks his location with a rather loud, deaf, rude and drawn-out three-fold, sometimes four-fold flashing, which can be conveyed by syllables - av, av, av.

In quiet frosty weather in open areas, peeling can be heard at 500–600 meters, in windy weather - at 150–200 meters. After 20–30 minutes, the barking stops or the animal leaves the hearing zone, but, as a rule, after the same period of time, barking resumes again. On the ambush, the hunter will immediately understand that the animal is nearby, walking towards him or moving away.

I have been constantly hunting foxes during the rutting season for a long time, but still, when I hear the barking and see the approaching beast, I get so excited that my teeth start to knock out a shot, my temples are pounding, and my hands are shaking so that in the uncertain night twilight I sometimes shoot past. For some reason, hunting for an elk or a wild boar does not evoke such emotions.

At sit-ins, sometimes you will hear a lot of new and interesting things for yourself, time flies somehow imperceptibly. Staying alone with yourself, among the icy silence full of stars, for long hours of vigil you will put your thoughts in order, change your mind and remember a lot of good things, your friends who have already gone to another world, with whom so much has been passed and experienced.

Sometimes you shudder in surprise when the trunks of trees burst from a severe frost or the ice on the river settles and cracks with a terrible crack and roar.

Or in the morning you watch how everything around gradually turns gray, the village wakes up, someone's door creaks in the cold, roosters crow.

Despite the fact that the expectation of foxes is often in vain, you go to the house on skis, to the distant lights of the village, in high spirits, stretching your stiff legs, and imagine a hot stove in a heated hut and a warm, soft bed.

In mid-February, gray owls, eared owls, and hares cry like a child. I remember one unforgettable night in the early 80s in the Uvarovsky hunting grounds of the Moscow region. On a large field, during the period of the full moon, on a quiet night with a slight frost, foxes recklessly barked and at the same time a wolf howled a little to the side. Moreover, from time to time in 300-400 meters one could see either foxes or a wolf.

After sitting in the hope of success for five hours in a row, I left without a shot, without being upset at all. But the unusual concert was remembered for a lifetime.

Undoubtedly, the higher the hunter is located from the snow surface, the better, but this condition is hardly feasible when hunting for fur species, especially during the rut. Therefore, it is necessary to guard the animals most often simply in the snow, behind some tree, stump, hay, snow puff, or even a barn.

Previously, when large stacks of straw stood in the fields, it was impossible to think of a better place. Wolves, foxes, hares and other animals invariably approached them, and it was warm and comfortable to sit upstairs, buried up to the chest in hay and surveying the whole neighborhood.

Once, on a stack, an owl even sat on its head - a tawny owl, which flew around for a long time and hunted for mice. Apparently she mistook the white hood for a snow mound. And 20 minutes after that, a hare ran up.

You need to sit absolutely still, watching the area, and if you need to turn your head or raise your gun, you need to do it in slow, smooth movements.

At the same time, it is better if the animal is behind a bump, in a lowland, or if it turns its head in the other direction. Throwing up the gun with a sharp movement, you most likely run the risk of missing, as the kuma immediately notices the movement, makes a sharp jump to the side and rushes to his heels.

Clothing should absolutely not rustle and not have pungent odors. Mask is required. It is rather difficult to sit for several hours without movement, and out of habit it is impossible. A folding chair, polyurethane mats and, of course, the excitement of a getter helps. It is best to wear simple rustic felt boots on your feet.

Do not forget to put a small flashlight in the inside pocket of the jacket so that the batteries do not run out in the cold. It is very useful for inspecting the results of a shot, fresh transitions and will help to avoid unforeseen situations on the way back.

In order not to give myself away as a movement, I fix the time spent in ambush by counting the number of breaths or exhalations in my mind when the body is in a calm state, having long ago determined their number in five minutes, an hour, etc. This is done automatically and does not distract attention.

While you are sitting, it seems that it is relatively warm, but as soon as you get up, a terrible cold immediately covers the body, and only a long intensive movement gradually warms it up, and after a while you no longer feel the frost.

In the midst of the rut, it is better to come to the chosen place before dark, since foxes often begin to move and bark for another half an hour, even an hour before dusk, and sometimes finish in the morning with sunrise. By 11–12 a.m., the activity of animals decreases and resumes by 4–5 a.m.

An ambush is arranged in a place where accumulations of chasing fox tracks were found. The proximity of holes increases the chances of success. Given the direction of the wind, they try to sit behind the shelter so that there is a large overview of the surrounding area and hummocks, bushes, and grass do not interfere much. Do not leave extra footprints in the sitting area, they alert the animals.

It is safer to guard the foxes away from the forest wall, then the air currents change direction less often and it is less likely that the beast will tame you. After sitting down, mentally note the dark hummocks, bushes, blades of grass and the distance to them, so that in the dark you do not confuse them with the beast and know the distance of a reliable defeat. In cloudy weather and on a moonless night, the silhouette of a fox is visible only 30-40 meters away, in clear weather - 80-100 meters away.

To our deep regret, the use of any light devices for the extraction of fur animals has recently been prohibited by the Rules of Hunting. And their use would increase the effectiveness of hunting, reduce the number of wounded animals, and ensure the safety of hunting.

The more foxes are harvested, the less likely the spread of scabies and rabies, the more rabbits, bird nests and broods will remain in the lands. It is completely incomprehensible what arguments the developers were guided by when introducing this item into the designated Rules.

In the dark, with a low landing, it seems that the distance is much greater and it is far to shoot, but in fact the beast is within a reliable shot. During the rut, the male bypasses his territory, periodically hacking, approximately along the same route.

Therefore, after sitting in vain, the next evening it is useful to sit close to the tracks in the place where barking was heard the previous evening. It is interesting that village dogs react sharply to fox barking, announcing the surroundings with heart-rending barking, while foxes do not pay any attention to them and regularly pass their routes right outside the outskirts.

As in any other hunting, the weather is very important, I would even say decisive. It is useless to go to guard foxes in the snow, especially in a snowstorm, rain - they sleep in bad weather, covering their nose with a magnificent tail.

In strong winds, they avoid open spaces, moving mainly along forest thickets, ravines and gullies. The air temperature has no particular effect on the intensity of the rut. Foxes bark at -25 degrees, and at -5, and at +3 degrees. A quiet moonlit and frosty night is preferred.

A light breeze favors hunting. But the most successful will be sitting after a long bad weather, when a snowstorm fell for two or three days or it rained in a strong wind and a thaw.

Nature calmed down, in the evening it froze, and because of the clouds a low winter sun began to timidly peep through. Don't yawn here, hunter, don't miss the moment! The foxes lay all their sides under the tree or in the hole, hungry and longing for love.

Occasionally it is possible to see two or even three foxes at once, walking at some distance from each other. Ahead, as a rule, is a female, followed by a male, from time to time chasing an opponent, or even fiercely fighting with him.

If you manage to disperse the love escort, according to the direction of the wind, hide behind a tree not far from the trail of the female, but without crossing it, and wait for the appearance of the male.

Having recovered from the fright, in 30-50 minutes he will again be on the trail of the female in order to catch up with her. Hunting for foxes during the rut is very exciting, although not very profitable. Try it - you won't regret it!

Fedor Fedorovich FEDOROV was born on March 3, 1949. He graduated from a forest technical school, served in the GSVG (a group of Soviet troops in Germany) as a commander of a medium tank. Then he graduated from the Forestry Engineering Institute; For 38 years he worked in the laboratory of Forestry and Game Science VNIILM (All-Russian Research Institute of Forestry and Forestry Mechanization) under the guidance of Doctor of Biological Sciences Ya.S. Rusanov. Leading Researcher, Ph.D. s.-x. Sciences (the topic of the Ph.D. thesis is the nutrition of the elk), now a pensioner. Official hunting experience - 51 years.

In nature, foxes can most often be heard during the rutting period, which in the middle latitudes occurs in February and March. Under favorable conditions, it is possible to regularly, every night, for two to three weeks, listen to the voice of one, and sometimes several foxes at once. Foxes are especially vociferous on cold nights. The signal characteristic of this period in the life of foxes is a series of sounds consisting of four to eight barks. By ear, it is perceived as a fast, melodic "ko-ko-ko-ko-ko". Some naturalists believe that a series of three staccato barks, ending in a drawn-out monophonic howl, belongs to the female. The barking of males is more pure, jerky, without howling. However, it should be noted that specialists in the field of sound communication do not find a connection between the nature of vocalization and the sex of foxes. Judging by the sound behavior of other canids, in particular domestic dogs, this opinion, apparently, should be recognized as fair.

The rutting signal of foxes, often called the barking stanza in specialized literature, serves to establish contact between males and females located at a great distance. If a male comes into close contact with a female, he lets out a rhythmic grunt stanza. With strong excitement during the rut, the stanza of barking takes on a strictly defined form and consists of a number of individual sounds typical for each individual.

During the mating season, foxes often gather in groups and run in a row, forming the so-called fox weddings: usually a female is in front and several males are behind her. Fierce fights often break out between males, which are accompanied by threatening signals typical of the agonistic behavior of these animals - piercing cries, similar to the howl of a siren.

When agonistic behavior, foxes emit warning cries, which serve as a signal for restructuring the partner's behavior. Most often, this is a low-frequency, prolonged growl, which in some cases can be mixed with barks, squeals, yelps and snorts. An increase in the excitation of the animal in anxious situations that cause it to growl is the cause of its quickening of breathing and, at the same time, a break in the sounds it makes - intermittent barking occurs. But barking compared to yapping is still a longer sound. Yelping is perceived as a more sonorous sound. The spectra of these signals also differ significantly. Barking is a sound signal that accompanies the moment of attack, but it can also serve as a warning to other animals about danger, in the latter case, its duration increases.

The agonistic behavior of foxes is also associated with various other signals: squeals, trills, trembling or trembling sounds, whining and screams. Often in this situation, yelping is combined with elements of screeching, which indicate the subordinate nature of the relationship: the signal of subordinate individuals sounds louder than the yelping of the dominant animal. Sound signals are combined with the corresponding body movements: the subordinate animal wags its tail, presses its ears, stretches its lips.

The spectra of most of the sound reactions characteristic of the agonistic behavior of foxes are similar, having a common feature - broadbandness. The differences relate mainly to the duration of the signals and the presence of certain high-frequency components in them. The appearance of the latter is apparently associated with an increase in the level of excitation of the animal in the event of a conflict. The squealing and whining of a subordinate individual at the climax of a fight has such a wide spectrum. The spectra of trills and trembling sounds are characterized by the presence of the same two well-defined maxima. But these sounds differ sharply in their duration: a trill is a longer sound. The shortest sounds in foxes are yapping. It is known that a sonorous yelping is emitted by a subordinate animal, and a deaf one - by a dominant individual. Depending on the social status, the frequency characteristics and whining of foxes change: in the dominant individual, the frequency of this sound is lower than in the subordinate.

Fights between foxes die out only at the end of the rut period, peace and silence reign in the forest. In the repertoire of sounds of these animals, the barking strophal remains only for a while. But now it serves to communicate within the couple. Often it sounds like a weakly dissected "coo-coo-coo-coo" and differs from the tone signal "ko-ko-ko-ko-ko" by a higher pitch. At the end of the rut, some pairs separate, and before whelping, individual males compete again for pregnant females. Only after this, the foxes finally break into pairs, and the male, together with the female, takes an active part in preparing the hole, and then in raising the young. A month after mating, the male begins to bring prey to the hole. At the same time, he grumbles and whimpers. A stanza of barking is still combined with these sounds, but then it gradually disappears. Increasingly, the inviting grunt of the male is heard at the time of delivery of food to the hole: a low, often repeated "uh-uh-uh". Having heard this sound, the female, busy with the cubs that have been born, leaves the hole.

reproduction

In the south of the Soviet Union, at the end of winter, usually in January and February, and in the middle latitudes in February and March, the mating season begins in foxes - the rut. At this time, you can often hear a kind of hoarse peeling. It's foxes barking.

If you listen well to the voices of several animals, you can notice the difference in them. Three jerky howls, ending in a drawn out monophonic howl, belong to the female. The barking of males is more frequent, jerky, does not end with a howl and is very reminiscent of the short-term barking of a small mongrel. Such flashing foxes characterize the beginning of the rut.

With a large number of foxes and under favorable conditions for their existence, one can regularly hear the barking of one, and sometimes several foxes at once, every night for 2-3 weeks. This indicates that the animals overwintered well and the rut passes in unison. In such a year, with a favorable spring, one should expect numerous fox broods with a large number of healthy puppies in each.

During the mating season, foxes often gather in groups and run in a row, forming the so-called "fox weddings". Such a wedding is usually headed by a female, followed by several males. Fights break out between males, which sometimes take on a violent character. From the tracks left in the snow, one can imagine how furiously the animals gnawed, now standing one against the other on their hind legs, then grappling, how they rolled in a ball, leaving tufts of wool on the snow. If rivals meet in a hole, no less fierce struggle is tied up underground, usually ending in the flight of the weaker one.

Mating in foxes, as in dogs, is accompanied by binding, as a result of the formation of a bulb in the male - a thickening at the base of the genital organ from a rush of blood to the cavernous bodies. Male and female in a bound state can be up to half an hour. If at this time the foxes are suddenly frightened, they will scatter.

After mating, some pairs sometimes separate briefly. In such cases, before whelping, the males again compete with each other because of the pregnant females. After that, the foxes finally break into pairs, and the male, together with the female, actively participates in the preparation of the hole and in the upbringing of the young.

Foxes most often arrange pores in elevated, dry places with a deep location of the groundwater level, digging them in a wide variety of landscape conditions. Burrows are fairly evenly distributed among fields and arable lands, in forests and forest edges, among hay and pasture meadows.

In the steppe and desert zones with vast open spaces, foxes prefer the slopes of ravines, valleys of rivers and streams, overgrown with shrubs, where they usually dig holes or occupy free badgers.

In the spring, a pair of foxes sometimes clears several burrows on the territory of their hunting area. This can be easily seen from the freshly raked heaps of sand and the traces of animals left on them.

In damp and swampy areas with a limited number of suitable places for burrowing, fox broods are often placed in adjacent burrows located at a distance of 100-200 meters. There are even cases of two broods settling in one hole.

How often fox holes are found in various zones of the Soviet Union can be judged from the following data. In 1939, in the Spitsovsky district of the Stavropol Territory, an area of ​​40 square kilometers accounted for up to 50 holes, and in the Arzgirsky district, up to 100 holes for the same area. In the Ural-Emba desert in 1935, only 3 burrows were discovered on the same area.

According to our research, in the Brovarsky district of the Kyiv region, in 1948/49, there were 8-9 holes per area of ​​40 square kilometers, and in the Moscow region (Losinoostrovskoye economy) in 1938 - 12 holes.

In the taiga regions of Eastern Siberia (in the upper reaches of the Ushmun, Borun, and Zund-Dzhila rivers and beyond the Yablonov Ridge to the valleys of the Gunda, Bulugunda, and Chubuktui rivers) in 1945/46, one fox hole covered several hundred square kilometers.

Thus, the number of holes in different areas is very different. This can serve as an indirect indicator of how suitable certain areas are for the life of a fox.

When building a burrow, foxes use small hillocks, slopes of ravines, crevices in rocks, embankments of ditches dug to drain swamps, and even trenches and hollows left after hostilities. Burrows are less common on the gentle slopes of swampy depressions.

The underground labyrinth of the hole, as a rule, is located in the most pliable layer of sand, sandy loam or light loam for digging, the depth of which can vary from 50 to 250 centimeters. The steepness of the passages, the structure of the underground labyrinth and the depth of the location of the nesting chamber - the lair depend on this.

In the case of subsoil layers coming to the surface (in ravines, trenches, ditches), foxes dig 1, less often 2 inlets directly in the slope of a ravine or ditches and make a short, 2-3 meters long corridor at a slight angle to the ground surface. Burrows of this type seem to serve as a temporary shelter, since animals visit them irregularly and puppies are not usually taken out in them.

More often, foxes dig more complex underground passages with 2-3 burrows and with a nesting chamber - a den located underground at a depth of more than a meter. The underground labyrinth of such holes consists of 2-3 corridors with a diameter of 25-30 centimeters and a total length of 6-10 meters, which serve as passages to the lair. In some cases, underground passages are complicated by blind (without access to the surface of the earth) 1-2 meter long burrows dug away from the nesting chamber or corridor. Usually, fox holes, contrary to the opinion of many hunters, are very simple in design and have 2-3 straight or slightly curved corridors - passages to the den, which are underground at a depth of 1-2 meters.

More difficult are old foxes or badger burrows occupied by foxes. In these cases, up to a dozen otnorks come to the surface of the earth, and the underground labyrinth is dug at a depth of 2-3 meters and may consist of several corridors and many blind otnorks with a total length of up to 30-40 meters.

There are no sharp temperature fluctuations in the depth of such pores. As it was established, when the air temperature on the earth's surface changed from -8 to +27°, the temperature in the den of the hole (at a depth of 120 centimeters underground) changed from -2 to +17°, and in the passages at a depth of 250 centimeters - from 0 to +14°.

It should be noted that even in hot weather in residential fox holes at a depth of 1.5-2 meters and in the presence of an animal, the temperature did not rise above + 17 °, and in winter cold did not fall below 0 °.

It is also important to note that the concentration of water vapor in fox dens usually approaches saturated humidity even in arid steppe regions.

Sunlight never enters the nesting chamber. With a complex underground labyrinth, even scattered light enters the lair in the smallest amount.

Consequently, the old, deep underground burrows turn out to be not only a reliable refuge for fox cubs, but also a kind of habitat for them, where on a hot afternoon you can hide from the heat, and in rain and cold - from bad weather. In this regard, it becomes clear why foxes and their broods primarily occupy deep and complex burrows.

Foxes are very attached to their burrows. If they are not disturbed, then they breed puppies in the same places year after year.

Often, in the old vast burrows with numerous burrows, a family of foxes settles together with a badger. In winter, a fox wounded or pursued by a dog very often escapes into a hole where a badger sleeps.

Hunters know cases when a fox survived a badger from its hole. Some attribute this to the cunning tricks of the fox, others simply to its untidiness. However, in areas with a limited number of burrowing sites (for example, in northern Ukraine), we have observed the opposite pattern: badgers and raccoon dogs survived foxes from their permanent burrows.

There are cases when completely helpless fox cubs are found in a hollow or under the snags of a fallen tree, in a crevice between stones or under a pile of hay. Such cases can be explained by the flooding of a hole chosen by an inexperienced young female, or by the relocation of a disturbed brood. Older females usually pup in previously prepared secure burrows.

Pregnancy in a fox lasts 51-53 days. In the southern regions of the Soviet Union, the whelping period falls on the second half of March, in the middle latitudes (Kyiv-Moscow) - in April, and in the more northern regions (north of Leningrad) - at the end of April-first half of May. In all these zones, the timing of whelping can deviate within 10-15 days, depending on meteorological conditions, the abundance or lack of food during the rut, diseases, etc.

Feed largely determines the number of born puppies. The average number of puppies in a litter does not exceed 5-6, sometimes it reaches 9 and, as an exception, up to 12.

Fox cubs are born pubescent with fluffy fur, they weigh 100-150 grams. The primary coat of dark brown color evenly covers the entire body and tail of the puppy. The end of the tail of fox cubs is always white, which makes it possible to distinguish them from wolf cubs, as well as from puppies of a raccoon dog and arctic fox.

The first 15-19 days the cubs are blind. Their ear openings are covered with a membrane. Throughout this period, the puppies are completely helpless and completely dependent on the mother, who warms them and feeds them with milk. Constantly licking the crotch of the puppies, the female causes them to excrete feces and urine into her tongue, thereby maintaining cleanliness in the lair.

At the same time, the paternal instinct awakens in the male, and he regularly brings prey to the hole.

A month after birth, normally developed fox cubs weigh up to 1 kilogram. At this time, they are already constantly shown on the surface of the earth and in good weather they spend whole days at the hole, without departing from it further than 20-30 meters.

It is interesting to observe such a brood, sitting in a storehouse built on the nearest tree, or simply behind a bush 20-30 meters from the hole (downwind). Usually, as soon as the sun begins to warm, all the foxes, one by one, run out of the hole in a crowd and start a fuss. For hours they play, chase each other, somersault, forming a common ball.

Sometimes a low-flying crow or a bird fluttering close by makes the most cautious fox cub growl in alarm, which makes everyone else alert (Fig. 2). At this tense moment, it is enough to dive into the hole for at least one puppy, as after him, crowding each other, all the rest rush. Half an hour or an hour will pass and the pointed ears of the most curious daredevil will again appear from the hole. Looking around, the puppy will quietly get out to a point in front of the hole. Everyone else will follow him. And the game starts again.

Played and tired fox cubs love to lie and take a nap on the sand under the rays of the morning sun. On a hot afternoon, they usually climb into the chill of an underground lair, and then peace and tranquility reign at the hole.

And in the evening twilight, at night or early in the morning, old foxes bring to their cubs the most diverse prey: a vole, a gerbil, a ground squirrel, and sometimes even a hare, a chicken, etc. We had to observe how one fox managed to bring the eggs of a mallard duck to the puppies intact. Often the fox delivers the victim to the hole while still alive. This develops hunting skills in fox cubs.

Arriving at the hole, the fox calls the cubs with a peculiar snort, often reminiscent of the repeated syllable "uh-uh". At such a call, all the foxes immediately jump out of the hole. Usually, the prey falls into the teeth of the fox cub that jumped out first. The further fate of the prey is decided by the strongest and hungriest puppy.

A fierce fight often breaks out between the cubs because of the ground squirrel, water rat, etc. brought by their mother. Pulling out prey from each other, the puppies become furious. Pouncing on each other with a chirping, they gnaw, scratch with their front paws or, grappled, roll in a ball on the ground, trying to push the opponent back from the desired prey. When the victim is torn to pieces and eaten, the cubs begin to suck their mother. But the fox at this time already avoids feeding them with milk, and usually, having made several jumps to the side, hides from the puppies in the bushes, leaving the brood to itself.

If at this time a person or a dog approaches the hole, the fox will not be slow to return back and in such cases often shows great selflessness in saving the brood. With a sharp flashing, reminiscent of the abruptly and hoarsely pronounced syllable "uhau", the fox tries to attract the attention of a person, without falling into his eyes at the same time. The fox sometimes runs very close to the dog and, dodging its teeth, rushes away, distracting the dog from the hole.

The instinct of motherhood is also manifested in foxes that do not have puppies. So, the cubs, put in a cage next to the line of a fox, awakened in her the instinct of motherhood. Such a fox systematically starved, and the freshly killed jackdaws that were brought to her, she dragged all day long in her teeth, continuously purring and trying in every possible way to call the cubs to her from the neighboring cage. When a fox cub was brought to the bars of her cage, the fox willingly gave him the meat she had stored up.

Fox cubs start catching small animals from the very first days after the first exit from the hole. Frolicking at the hole, they do not miss the opportunity to trample or crush a running lizard with their paws, to grab a declining May beetle or dung beetle on the fly, to catch a swift-footed ground beetle. So they gradually develop hunting techniques.

At the age of two or three months (for mid-latitudes in June-July), the cubs become more independent. At this time, they begin to leave their burrow for several hundred meters to hunt for fillies, beetles, lizards and mouse-like rodents. At night, they return to their lair, as the old foxes still continue to come to the hole and share their prey with the cubs.

Near the living burrow, fox cubs destroy all small animals, including frogs. In this regard, young animals are gradually expanding their hunting area.

By August, the weight of foxes reaches 2.5-3 kilograms. Their hairline by this time becomes more lush, similar to the fur of their parents. Such cubs become so independent that they can feed themselves. At this time, they move away from the hole for a distance of more than a kilometer and do not always return, remaining in the field for the whole day and even for the night.

Sometimes a lone fox cub temporarily settles in the nearest neighboring hole. Such mature fox cubs, frightened near their homes, often do not hide in a hole, but run into bushes or reed beds.

Older foxes still continue to stick to the breeding area. They often betray their presence by barking at a person who has appeared at the hole in which the fox hid.

In September and October, when the change of milk teeth ends in fox cubs, young animals grow so much that they almost do not differ in appearance from adults. From this time until the end of winter (until the rut period), young foxes lead a solitary nomadic lifestyle, adhering to the territory of their permanent hunting area. Of the 27 cubs ringed by us in the summer of 1949 in the Brovarsky district of the Kyiv region, after 6 months, three foxes were killed in the same area at a distance of 12-22 kilometers from the place of release.

In winter, foxes do not have a permanent shelter - they do not have holes and burrow only in exceptional cases, fleeing danger or hiding in wet, inclement weather.

The period of raising young for a fox does not always go smoothly. In many industrial and agricultural regions of the central regions of the European part of the Soviet Union, foxes dig holes not only in remote places, but also on arable land, among crops, in meadows or forest edges, often in the immediate vicinity of villages. As a result, local residents can easily spot fox broods. Often, children, having found a living hole, put sticks into it, throw smoking firebrands, or simply clog the otnorki with earth. Such a hole, as a rule, becomes uninhabited on the same day. In areas where the fox is heavily pursued by a person, it is enough that he visits the hole once, especially in the presence of old foxes, for the animals to leave their refuge.

The fox carries helpless puppies in its teeth, and transfers more independent puppies to a secluded place 2-3 kilometers away. If this happens in May or June, then still immature foxes during such a transition lag behind their mother, get lost and become victims of dogs, wolves and large feathered predators.

In areas where there are few suitable places for burrowing, such an alarmed brood is forced to wander for quite a long time without shelter, as a result of which it may all die. In Ukraine, in May, we had to observe many cases when, from litters of 5-7 puppies, after they moved to other holes, 2-3 fox cubs remained alive.

Daily lifestyle of a fox

Most foxes are crepuscular and nocturnal. In summer and autumn, the fox goes hunting at sunset, when work in the field stops, and the shepherds bring their flocks to the villages. All night and in the morning of the next day, she freely mouses over the harvested fields, visits old stacks, stacks of straw and threshing floor, tops of ravines, edges of swamps and forest edges. If there is a lot of food, then the fox, quickly sated, lies down at night, and at the dawn of the morning resumes its hunt before sunrise, after which it leaves for the day.

However, there are also foxes who are not averse to hunting ground squirrels and hamsters in the late morning or even in the afternoon. In summer, animals with broods often linger on daytime hunting. Sometimes they come to villages to catch a gaping chicken from a careless mistress. In winter or in a hungry year, when it is difficult to obtain food, foxes usually mouse all day.

As a rule, foxes visit carrion at cattle burial grounds and bait only in the evening and at night.

Places of the day for foxes

On a quiet, clear winter day, the fox chooses a place for a day's rest somewhere on a hill among sagebrush thickets or in the stubble in the fields. She lays down in the snow or on some kind of elevation - on a tussock, stump, a pile of brushwood, a stack of firewood or a mop. In mountainous areas, the places where the fox hauls often turn out to be a small balcony on a cliff or on a steep slope of a ravine. Even with frost below 15-20 ° and strong wind, the fox prefers to lie down somewhere not in a swamp among tussocks, under the protection of reeds, in young forest plantings or in weeds, than to hide in a hole. In winter, it can sometimes be caught in a hole only during a snowstorm with heavy snowfall.

The fox is most often sent to the lair without any special precautions. She does not do clever doubles, sweeps and loops, like a hare. Only sometimes, having made a throw from the track, lies down so as to see his mark. Curled up, she usually lies on her side, picking up her front and hind legs to her stomach, and covering them with a magnificent tail. Young and fearless animals, especially if they are full, sleep quite soundly, and they can often be approached from the leeward side for a sure shot shot. Animals sleep especially soundly in the thaw after frost.

Older animals sleep more sensitively and often raise their heads, listening and looking around. It is usually impossible to approach such "unsettled" foxes without special precautions.

Along the black trail, it often happens that a fox, seeing an approaching hunter, clings to the ground, trying to become invisible.

If a person walks straight towards a fox, she jumps up while he is still at a considerable distance and runs away. Sometimes, having let a person close enough, she quietly gets up and, disguised as bushes, tree trunks and uneven terrain, tries to leave unnoticed.

Fox nutrition and places of fattening

In spring and summer, during the period of raising puppies, the old fox spends most of the time in search of prey. At this time, she attacks any victim she can, ranging from beetles, lizards, voles and ending with a hare or even a young roe deer. The fox is no less dangerous for many birds, as it does not miss the opportunity to profit from their eggs and chicks. Often, adult molting birds - ducks, black grouse and capercaillie - also fall into the teeth of the beast. A case is known when a fox even killed a swan. In a hungry year, animals willingly eat carrion.

Thus, the composition of the animal food of the fox is very diverse. It changes from year to year, from season to season due to changes in the abundance and availability of one or another type of food. And yet it is undoubted that the bulk of the fox's food consists of various small rodents. Every hunter has probably seen more than once in the fields with what enthusiasm the fox catches mice, or, as they say, "mouse". Many cases are known when, during the night plowing, foxes followed the tractor plow and looked for mice in the torn land. Having once gone with a tractor driver "at night", we managed to kill such a mouse fox. The remains of 16 voles were found in her stomach. Numerous studies of the contents of the stomachs and feces of foxes collected in various zones of the Soviet Union have established that mouse-like rodents occupy a significant place in the diet of foxes everywhere. For example, in foxes caught in the forest-tundra of the Kola Peninsula, mouse-like rodents were found in the stomachs of all individuals, in the Moscow region - in 79% of cases, in the floodplain regions of the Tatar ASSR - in 76%, in the mountainous part of Crimea - in 61% and in Caucasian State Reserve - in 84% of cases.

Each hunter, having carefully examined the hard, pointed ends, almost black feces of the animal, he met on a fox trail or at a hole, can make sure that small rodents are the main food of the fox. In the feces, one can easily distinguish undigested short hairs and claws of small rodents.

In addition to mouse-like rodents, foxes catch a large number of ground squirrels and hamsters. In some years and seasons, birds, carrion, berries and fruits have a significant proportion and nutrition of foxes.

And in summer, the feces of foxes, and especially foxes, often consist of some chitinous remains of May bugs, dung beetles, locusts, grasshoppers and other insects. It should be noted that in comparison with all these foods, hares and game birds occupy a very small place in the diet of foxes (5-10%). In winter, the proportion of these feeds sometimes increases. This is largely due to the absence of mouse-like rodents or the difficulty of getting them from under deep hard snow, as well as the fact that the animal catches at this time wounded animals not found by hunters. In some cases, the number of hares eaten increases as a result of a case among them from invasive (helminthic) and infectious (contagious) diseases.

With a lack of food (especially mouse-like rodents), the fox sometimes begins to systematically strangle the poultry. At the same time, she often becomes so impudent that she bursts into the poultry yard during the day and drags off the chicken.

In autumn and winter, young foxes, old or already mature enough by this time, roam in the evening twilight and at night in search of prey in their hunting area. This territory, usually well explored by the fox during its daily wanderings, does not exceed an area of ​​​​10-20 kilometers in diameter.

It is interesting to walk along fresh powder, along fox tracks, stretching like a stitch with the most intricate figures, through fields, meadows, forest edges, swamps, ravines and stream valleys. Sometimes such a trail stretches for 30-40 kilometers, and if you do not cut off the loops, you will not always have time to reach the lying fox in a short winter day.

You will see a lot of interesting and instructive things on the fox path. The fox has several gaits. The most common is a jogging, medium-sized trot. With this move, the fox makes its usual journey in search of prey. In the mouse fox, the trot is often replaced by a step, which indicates the tense state of the beast. Such steps sometimes end with several jumps and a hole in the snow, irrigated with a few drops of the blood of the captured animal. In deep snow or icy conditions, the fox does not always manage to get to the bottom of a vole or mouse. In such cases, she has to switch to hunting for white squirrels and examine glades, forest edges, where black grouse and hazel grouse usually spend the night in holes made in the snow.

The fox often visits the threshing floor, where she sometimes manages to crawl up to the gray partridges or to the hare. At night, the beast often comes close to human habitation and picks up various garbage.

Foxes never gorge themselves like wolves do. Usually 10-20 mice or one hamster are enough to feed a medium-sized animal. If the fox is full and unable to finish its prey, having found a secluded place, it tears off a hole with its front paws and, putting the remnants of its meal in it, buries them with its nose and carefully tamps down the ground or snow with it. The fox usually returns to his pantries the next day. Therefore, with such a find, the hunter will not miss the opportunity to put two traps in this place.

In the second half of winter, when there is less food and it is more difficult to get it, the fox regularly visits carrion, although this predator usually prefers live prey.

A well-fed fox often engages in catching mice simply to satisfy his hunting passion. In such cases, after catching a vole, it plays with it like a cat until it strangles it, then leaves it uneaten. Having found fox fun in the footsteps of this kind, we can safely assume that the animal is full and will soon go to bed.

Fox Enemies

Adult foxes have few enemies: wolves and large eagles. There are also cases of attacks on the fox by lynx and wolverine. Fox cubs have a lot more enemies. They are attacked by an owl, a goshawk, a raven and a pesky crow. Often fox cubs become victims of stray dogs. Many of them die in their burrows as a result of smoking. Many fox cubs disappear in early spring from hunger and cold during the transition of disturbed broods to another place. Often, foxes die by eating chemically poisoned locusts and mouse-like rodents.

sense organs

When hunting a fox, it should be borne in mind that her hearing is most strongly developed, and then her sense of smell. Vision is less perfect. Another fox does not distinguish a calmly standing person at a distance of 10 steps. Once we had to observe a brood of foxes near a hole, sitting on a tree 4 meters above the ground. Half an hour after our arrival, an old fox came to the hole with a water rat in his mouth. Having given the prey to the puppies, she suddenly caught the smell of our tracks. Lowering its head, the beast walked up and down the tracks and sniffed at them. Sometimes he stopped under the very tree and, raising his head up, sniffed the bark on the tree for a long time, but, finding nothing, went to the puppies. In the morning, warm air currents go up. Therefore, apparently, the fox could not smell us. This example suggests that the beast trusts its nose more than its eyes.

It is characteristic that the fox looks down at the level of its eyes. In the vision of the fox there is another feature - the underdevelopment of the sense of distance. Some attribute this to the myopia of the beast. However, this is not quite true. A fox often notices a person moving or suddenly appearing at a distance of more than 500 meters and, despite this, immediately rushes to run with such haste, as if he were 50 meters away from him. Only after hiding from sight or losing sight and not hearing his pursuer, the beast calms down.

It is impossible not to mention the highly developed observation and visual memory of the fox. On her constant paths, she notices the appearance of the most insignificant objects or changes in the tracks. This makes the animal alert and often forces him to bypass the suspicious place. This is the main reason that foxes often bypass poorly camouflaged traps, although they are well processed and devoid of any smell.

Fox habits in captivity

Many fox cubs, taken from a hole at an early age (for example, by suckers), are well tamed with constant communication with people.

The cubs especially get used to the person who feeds them, constantly picks them up and caresses them.

With artificial feeding, foxes are fed with cow's milk, mashed potatoes, various cereals boiled in milk or meat broth, all kinds of sweet berries and fruits, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, as well as insects, such as May beetles. To avoid the appearance of rickets, it is necessary to add 10-20 grams of meat and bone meal, 10 grams of raw eggs and fish oil to the fox feed. Meat, especially freshly killed birds, fox cubs always eat with great greed. A handmade fox cub does not lose its hunting passion in captivity. Released, he pounces on poultry and with great dexterity can strangle a chicken and even a goose in an instant.

A tame fox treats dogs with complete confidence. When a large shepherd dog appears at the enclosure, she runs out to meet her and, wagging her tails, crouching to the ground or clinging to the cage bars, expresses the most benevolent feeling. With young and playful dogs, the fox lives very friendly. Planted together in one cage, they often play all day long, and when they get tired, they go to bed in the same den or in a hole.

A well-tamed fox will remain attached to its owner for life. She recognizes her nickname, the voice of a person she knows well.

There are cases when such foxes ran away to freedom and after a day or two returned or ran out of the bushes at the call of the owner and approached him without fear, allowing him to pull himself together.

When the owner enters the cage of a tamed fox, she rushes to his feet, caresses and rubs against his dress, crouches to the ground, wags her tail and, pressing her ears, squeals joyfully. Playing with a man, the fox makes false movements to the right, to the left, and suddenly bounces off in an unforeseen direction. Caught by the tail or collar, she falls on her back, somersaults and, deftly dodging, with lightning speed, but painlessly bites the finger or hand of the owner.

Foxes tamed from youth breed in captivity and feed their foxes well, in contrast to wild foxes, who worry too much in cages and drag their pups in their teeth to death.

Fox- the first object of fur farming, which has been carried out since the end of the last century in Canada, and then in other countries. High prices for fur and breeding stock stimulated the development of the industry. With the development of mink breeding, foxes began to be gradually replaced by them everywhere, and now fox breeding has an insignificant share, although there is still demand for fox skins on the international market.

Mostly silver-black foxes are bred. The average size of males ranges from 66 to 72 cm, females - 63 - 68 cm. The average live weight of males is 6 - 7 kg, females - 5 - 6 kg. Sexual maturity in foxes occurs at 9-11 months, they normally breed up to 6-7 years with maximum productivity at 3-5 years of age. The life expectancy of foxes is 10-12 years. Average fertility 5 - 6 puppies per litter. Registered litter of 14 puppies. The fruiting period is 51 - 52 days.

Currently, the following color forms of foxes are known: silver-black, black-brown, white-faced-platinum, white-faced silver-black, snowy and other forms with different shades.

The breeding feature of foxes is monoestricity, that is, they have estrus and hunting once a year, and if the female is not covered during this period, offspring from her can only be obtained the next year. Foxes are prepared for the rut from August-September, when they begin to have weak growth of follicles. Inadequate and inadequate feeding of foxes during this period can lead to underdevelopment of the genital organs, which will adversely affect the reproduction of foxes.

Like other predatory animals, since the end of July, foxes begin to decrease their basal metabolism, their body accumulates nutrient reserves, as a result of which the live weight increases by 35 + 40% by December compared to the summer period.

Approximately from January 15 to 25 and later (February 1 - 15), some females begin estrus and the state of sexual hunting. Estrus usually lasts 5-10 days, and in young and old females up to 15-20 days. During estrus, changes begin in the uterus, the walls of which thicken and prepare to receive embryos. The outer edges of the vagina swell, the loop is "cleared" and becomes clearly visible even with a superficial examination. With the onset of sexual hunting, it becomes almost rounded, elastic, and softens during the hunting period.

The state of hunting in foxes lasts 2-3 days, during which ovulation occurs. After the end of the hunt, a period of rest begins, the ovaries decrease, the yellow bodies ripen, the loop again becomes almost invisible in the hairline. The state of sexual hunting can be repeated only the next year. Only in very rare cases, the state of hunting is repeated (even in covered females) after 5-7 days, and sometimes after 17 days. After the second mating, the offspring in some cases appears from the first mating, in others - from the second. This is possible as a result of non-simultaneous development of follicles in different ovaries.

Before the onset of estrus in the female, the male usually does not pay attention to her. With the onset of estrus, the female and male become hostile to each other. Such animals should be connected 2-3 times. If the hostile attitude does not change, another male is picked up for the female, otherwise she may be left uncovered.

When the female is in heat, the male stays close to her and periodically sniffs her. In the following days, characteristic games begin between them, and even before the onset of sexual hunting, some males make attempts to mate, but the female snaps and does not allow cages. The female, which is in a state of hunting, assumes a characteristic posture with the approach of the male, turning its tail to the side.

During the rut, males are quite active and many of them can mate with females 2 times a day. Some males during the rutting period cover up to 25 females with normal polygamy 1:5 - 1:6. If a male is not planted with females in a state of hunting for a long time, the function of his testicles fades.

If the female needs to be covered only by the male attached to her, and the latter does not pay attention to her, despite the obvious signs of sexual hunting, then they resort to the "call of jealousy". The female is carried away for 10-20 minutes to another male, preventing mating with him. After the female returns, the male usually covers her immediately. The descent of steam is carried out in the morning hours, when the animals are most active. During morning feeding, the connection of males with females begins half an hour after feeding. It is most effective to cover the female on the second day of hunting.

Mating in foxes lasts from several minutes to two or more hours.

Pregnancy of foxes lasts from 49 to 56 days. Pregnancy is delayed due to insufficient diet, especially B vitamin deficiency. With the appropriate skills, on the 18th - 20th day, pregnancy can be determined by probing, on the 25th - 30th day, the diagnosis of pregnancy is simplified. When probing, single females are revealed, which, with good pubescence, are killed. In pregnant females, molting begins earlier than in unfertilized ones.

On the 51st - 52nd day of pregnancy, females have maternal instincts, there is a slight release of colostrum. 10 - 15 days before the expected whelping, the female's house is prepared. The house must be protected from the cold, disinfected, the nest lined with insulating material.

The house should not be hot. Sometimes the whole house is filled with clean straw and the females build a nest in it themselves.

2 to 3 days before whelping, females begin to shed hair around the nipples. Females remove it and at this time you can see foxes with down stuck to the muzzle - one of the sure signs of imminent whelping. On the eve of whelping, females refuse to feed, do not leave the nest.

Childbirth usually begins in the morning and lasts 1.5 - 2 hours. The time between the appearance of the penultimate and last puppy can sometimes be up to a day. After the birth of each puppy, the female licks, cleansing the placenta, which she eats, and puts it on her nipples. Milk usually begins to be secreted during childbirth, and puppies begin to suckle it immediately.

After whelping, the nests are inspected. Healthy puppies lie in a pile, dry. Weak puppies are scattered throughout the nest. It is necessary to examine everyone and, if necessary, put the weak to nurses and feed them with a 3-4% solution of ascorbic acid with glucose at a dose of 1-1.5 ml.

Newborn puppies weigh 80-100 g, are covered with short dark pubescence, eyes are closed, no teeth, auricles are tightened with skin.

To warm the frozen puppies, "incubators" are built, where the temperature is maintained at about 20 - 25 ° C. The warmed puppies are placed on the nipples of their mother, who is held on the table by two people with a tied muzzle. You can feed puppies with goat's milk, heated to 30 - 35 ° C.

If the female cannot give birth herself, she is provided with obstetric care, pulling up the puppies that appear in time with the attempts.

Sometimes women in labor show cannibalism, when, after eating stillborn puppies, she devours live ones. In such cases, the surviving puppies are placed in an incubator, and the female is culled. The cause of death of all puppies is established and conclusions are drawn about the further use of the female.

Puppies grow and develop quickly. Until the age of two weeks, they are completely helpless and feed on mother's milk. The eyes open on the 14th - 17th day, at the same time teeth begin to erupt, which grow all the way to the age of one month. With teething, the muzzle, which until now was blunt, is drawn out. From the age of 3 months, the change of milk teeth by permanent ones begins, by 5 months, molars are formed.

In the first 4 - 5 months there are significant changes in the physique of puppies. From short-legged, they become ankle-length, grow in length, and by 6-7 months the physique of the young is approaching the physique of adult animals. By the age of 7 months, the live weight of foxes reaches 5-7.5 kg. slight growth of foxes continues after the onset of puberty. Males are 5-10% heavier than females.

Summer pubescence foxes after birth are black without silver coloration. With the growth of winter pubescence, silveriness in color increases.

For the first 2.5 - 3 weeks, the cubs feed only on mother's milk. With low milk content, they are fed with warmed goat's milk, and then cow's milk with the addition of egg yolk or good minced meat.

With the start of feeding the puppies, the female stops eating their feces and cleaning is necessary to maintain cleanliness in the cage.

At 45 - 50 days of age, puppies are separated from the female. With a sharp decrease in lactation, female puppies can be planted at 35-40 days. Gradual jigging of puppies is practiced, when the weakest puppies are left under the mother for 2-3 days.

When jigging, if possible, fox cubs of the same age and temperament are placed in one cage. Breeding young animals are best kept in lighter cages. This contributes to the timely development of genital organs in animals. They are fed in order to be well prepared for reproduction.

Culled young and adult animals are slaughtered in mid-November. Tribal young animals are transferred to a diet common with the main herd.

Breeding young animals can be purchased at the Obodovtsy collective farm in the Vileika region, the Baranovichi fur farm, and other farms.

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