The fox's rut ​​is due. The mating season of foxes. Fox habits in captivity

Fox hunting, especially well organized or conducted by an experienced lone fox hunter, is in my opinion one of the most interesting winter hunts. Of course, I don’t mean driving on snowmobiles, the rich prey from which the newly-baked “hunters” love to show off so much today. Of course, hunting with flags, from the approach, from the tower at the bait and other honest methods are implied. And you need to master the technique of these hunts well in order to succeed. However, the opportunity to shoot a fox can present itself on any winter hunt, especially in late February and early March. When the foxes start rutting, it is not uncommon to find a fox wedding or single males prowling in search of a mate. These meetings can happen by chance, but you should always be ready for them. So, random encounters with foxes.

Bullet is not stupid

This happened in one of the richest hunting grounds located not far from Moscow.

It was the second day of the hunt. During the previous day, an elk and a sika deer were caught, but I was lucky to take two wild boars in a doublet. I hunted with a double-barreled "markel", because. the old Browning assault rifle began to give delays when reloading. Two sure shots are enough to stop any beast.

The second day promised to be just as interesting. We had to shoot a few more animals. In the very first corral, placing the shooters by numbers, the head of the hunting economy warned that there were a lot of foxes here, and recommended putting shot in one barrel. “Some kind of nonsense,” I thought. “I’ll be good with a shotgun loaded with shot if wild boars or deer come out.”

Having loaded the Merkel with bullets and, if possible, disguised himself, he calmly looked around the surroundings. Winter hunting is generally very beautiful, and especially in the bright sun. I admired the sparkling snow and involuntarily imagined how picturesque a bright red fox would look against its background.

“Maybe still charge one barrel with shot? - flashed somewhere deep thought. “No, nonsense, it was not enough to miss out on this serious beast.”

A shot rang out from the depths of the paddock, shouts were heard - the paddock began. I was standing in a narrow clearing, carefully looking through a rather frequent spruce forest, located right in front of me. Turning his gaze to the right, he suddenly saw what he imagined only a few minutes ago. Forty paces, among the fir-trees, not even a bright red, but a bright red fox crept.

“I won’t have time to reload,” it flashed through my head. - I will shoot a bullet.

I know from experience that a frightened fox will not immediately jump over the clearing, it will definitely stop. When the beast hides behind a tree, I quickly direct the trunks to where the fox should appear. As calculated, so it happened. Approaching the edge of the clearing, the fox stopped and began to turn its head, examining the clean place. I shot at the head sticking out from behind a branch. Stretched out in the snow, the animal only waved its tail a couple of times.

“Not a bad shot,” I thought, not without complacency. And then again the thought: “Maybe now load the shot?” “Well, no,” I laugh to myself. “The projectile doesn’t hit the same place twice.” He raised his head and nearly choked on his own laughter. A fox is rolling right at me, this time a bright red one. I raise my gun and wait for her approach. You will have to shoot with a bullet again. Fifty steps, forty, thirty ... the fox stops and, raising his head, looks at me attentively: apparently, he noticed a suspicious object. Perfect timing for shotgun shooting. I have to carefully combine the bar with the front sight, point it exactly at the face, and I do not have time to pull the trigger. A fraction of a second earlier, the fox, spinning in place, shows me its tail. I shoot at him, of course, by.

I scold myself with the last words. After all, I noticed earlier on a hunt with flags, if the beast looks directly at you, it means that he suspected something, and you need to shoot right away, hesitate - and miss.

I stand for quite a long time, holding two cartridges in my hand: one with a bullet, the other with a shot. “Well, this is already completely stupid, it definitely doesn’t happen three times,” I brush aside all doubts and once again load the bullet. The next twenty minutes pass quietly, and I stop feeling for the shotgun shell in my pocket. As it turned out, in vain.

The beaters were already approaching when, looking to the left, I already saw without surprise a bright yellow fox on the swings, rushing towards the clearing. This one definitely won't stop. I aim at the tip of the nose and, choosing a clean gap, I shoot. A potential collar flips over the head. A satisfied smile still shines on my face when the fox, jumping up, hides behind the trees in a few jumps. Completely stunned, I run to see what happened, since the corral has already ended. On the trail are a few drops of blood and wisps of dirty, gray hair from under the throat. So, I was mistaken by only a couple of centimeters. At fifty paces it's not so bad, but there's no animal.

The hunters-beaters approached me and congratulated me on a good shot. Still, it's not so easy to kill a fox with a bullet. I was terribly upset. When three more foxes come out to the number.

Still, I think I did the right thing by not loading the shot. You can't take risks when hunting big game.

Once on an elk hunt, after the “Ready” signal, a fox came out to me. She ran in a strange way, making ridiculous jumps. The moose was shot, and I decided to fire, since it was only thirty steps away, and the place was open. After the shot, the fox stayed where it was. Upon closer examination, it turned out that the neck and front paw were lashed with a steel noose. My shot ended her torment. The bullet ripped open the fox's stomach without damaging the skin at all.

Recently gathered for foxes in the Moscow region. Arriving at the place, I unexpectedly met a familiar company of hunters who had a “burning” license for an elk. For several weekends in a row, they failed to realize it. The case was nearing the close of hunting for ungulates, and I was asked to help in the shooting. It did not smile at me at all, I dreamed of hunting for a fox with flags, but it was inconvenient to refuse. In addition, all the huntsmen left with moose, so there was no choice.

Standing on the number, I sadly removed the cartridges with shot away and loaded the bullets. And, as it always happens, a red skin flashed in the distance at the wrong time. The corral had been going on for about forty minutes, but there had not yet been a shot at the elk, so I had no right to shoot the fox. In this regard, the agreement was strict. Before shooting at an elk, neither a fox nor a hare is shot. Having defiled in front of me in the paddock, the fox went back. After another 10 minutes, a doublet was heard in the chain of shooters, and immediately after it a cry: "I've reached it." And at the same moment I saw the fox again. This time she flew towards me with all her might. I did not have time to reload the cartridge for shot. I had to shoot a bullet. Taking aim with a slight lead, he fired. It was one of my best shots. The bullet hit the fox in the head and did not spoil the skin at all. So, with a good combination of circumstances, a bullet is not a fool.

Triplet

It happened at the end of winter. In an area where I often hunt fox, I had a bait laid out and a tower built. The foxes visited her regularly. But terrible bad luck haunted me all season. For greater attraction, my partner and I tossed, as a delicacy, herring heads and chicken bones. All this was eaten with pleasure by foxes. But there was no way to get at least one. First, the redheads got into the habit of wandering around the field all day near the ambush. At first I tried to sit on the tower at five in the evening, but the animals were already right there. Then it was located at two o'clock in the afternoon or early in the morning - also useless: one or two patrol beasts did not allow them to approach the bait covertly. Besides, they just mocked us. Once we saw a girl sledding down the mountain, and literally a hundred meters from her, a large male was calmly mouseling. But as soon as we appeared, the tramp was immediately washed away. If I sat down, having first frightened them away, it was all in vain, freeze even half the night, the animals did not come.
We used all the recommendations read in the books and the advice of experienced fox hunters. They approached the seat, talking loudly, and then the partner left, singing songs, already alone. Nothing helped. My comrade had fun from the bottom of his heart, standing on a hillock and watching from the side how the fox sticks his muzzle out of the bushes, then bypasses my ambush and leaves for the neighboring field. This is how it would probably have ended, if not for mister chance.

On that day, I took my wife to the forest to show the built tower and my "tame" foxes. It was the middle of the day, but, to my surprise, both visible fields were empty, although it was a decent frost. After looking for a few minutes, we, without hiding, moved across the field to the tower. I showed my wife a bait gnawed by foxes, a lot of tracks and animal paths. Before heading home, I took one last look at the field. I still can’t understand where it came from, but in the direction of the forest, on the edge of which we stood near the bait, a fox was walking on large swings.

There were bushes in the middle of the field, but from our side they were visible through and through. I had a gun, but the fox went into the forest about a hundred paces from us. While he was wondering where she came from (there was no question of a shot at such a distance), and his wife twittered enthusiastically about the beauty of the fox skin, the beast jumped out of the same place where he had hidden and rushed to the bush. Literally a couple of seconds later, a second fox ran out after this fox, and immediately a third. Both rushed to catch up with the first. Without moving, clinging to the trees, we watched this picture - the wife was spellbound, and I, feverishly thinking about what could be done. Finally, the animals stopped among the bushes and began to play. Obviously, it was a bitch in heat and two males, since both pursuers now and then squabbled among themselves. It was February - the time of the fox rut. An ideal situation was created: I run 100 m through the forest and stand on the entrance trails of the wedding company. It was clear that after the beater, having bypassed the field, pushed the animals, they would rush into the forest on their own, and it was only necessary to go around them imperceptibly.

The blow came from where he didn’t expect: on my proposal to go to the corral, the wife said that she would not go anywhere, because the foxes would attack her, bite her and eat her. Can you imagine my desperation? My colorful pictures of the three fiery red skins thrown at her feet didn't help. Saved only by a categorical ultimatum: either in the corral, or divorce. Lamenting something through her tears, she still went on a mission. I, with all my strength, but trying not to make noise, rushed to the supposed course of the beast.

Just succeeded. There were about a hundred steps to the bushes, and from this point the animals were not visible, but as soon as I stood behind a lonely Christmas tree on the edge of the forest, all three beauties appeared. A small bitch ran ahead, and behind her at twenty paces - both males, noticeably larger than her. With a counter shot, it is very important to choose the moment when the animal or bird, having seen the hunter, or after the first miss, no longer has the opportunity to turn around and go back or slip behind the hunter. In my situation, when shooting at the head fox, one or both males had a chance to go back into the pen, so I decided to start with them.

Having let the red-haired couple of steps go thirty, I hit first one and immediately another. Without looking at the result, he threw the gun at his feet, hoping to see the breaking through bitch. If she had not changed direction, she would have had a chance to slip into the forest. But to my luck and its own misfortune, the fox shied away from the shots and, as the tankers say, framed the board. With the third shot, I laid her down, preventing her from reaching the forest. Both males remained lying a couple of meters from each other.

Hunting with decoy

A few years ago, while sorting out hunting belongings that had been accumulating in a box for years, I came across a plastic decoy. He lay there for at least twenty-five years. The nostalgic inscription “the price is 40 kopecks” amused me, and I put it in my pocket, going to the dacha at the beginning of winter.

He published a plaintive meow, presumably depicting the cry of a wounded hare and, therefore, was a decoy for a fox. For two years he served me and my constant partner and neighbor in the country as great entertainment. It was only necessary, getting off the bus and going deep along the path into the forest, to shout at it 2-3 times, as all the nearby jays, magpies and crows rushed to his call with grunting, chirping and croaking. The young hunter was building a gun and training in shooting before a serious hunt. At the same time, we cleared the forest from all this hooliganism. But in that year, the decoy showed itself as a professional precisely in the business for which, in fact, it was intended.

It all happened by accident. It was nasty weather. The column stood at the plus mark for the second week. The snow, which covered the ground with a decent layer, melted and squelched disgustingly underfoot. It was dripping from the branches, and as soon as you entered the forest, ten minutes later he was soaked through. Tormented by idleness, the neighbor offered to go to the edge of the forest and shoot, as the Germans say, black game. I agreed, but since, with my 40 years of hunting experience, shooting forty seems to be not respectable, I didn’t take a gun with me, deciding that I would only beckon. How I regretted it! Leisurely moving along the edge of the forest, I periodically uttered the cry of a hare in trouble. Those wishing to feast on a gratuitous hare were found very soon. From the depths of the forest there was a chirp of at least 4-5 forty, but, apparently, our silhouettes were projected against the background of snow that had not completely descended in the field, and cautious birds did not fly up to us. Noticing the forest road, we turned onto it. My partner began to hide the chirps in the forest, and I leisurely walked along the road, occasionally shouting at the call.
Suddenly, something flashed in the forest, and ahead, about a hundred meters away, a real fox rolled out onto the road and moved towards me with a confident, light gallop, apparently also counting on a hare. Having managed to take a step to the side and clinging to the edge of the road, I froze like a pillar. Having run up to 35 steps, the fox stopped. Moreover, she did not look at me, but in the direction of her partner, who continued to steal forty and did not suspect the guest either in sleep or in spirit. The moment to shoot was perfect, and once again I cursed myself for not taking the gun.

Finally, the wrestler with the magpie cracked something especially loudly, and the beast instantly disappeared into the bushes. Having lamented enough about the missed opportunity, we went home without drawing any conclusions. What happened seemed to me a pure coincidence. I am a materialist and I believe more in red flags and a bait tower than in some kind of decoy for 40 kopecks.

The next day we ran out of bread, and in the late afternoon we went to the store along the same forest path, where the mob were usually shot on the way from the bus. This time I took a gun, intending to shoot a few pieces for a bait, while my partner would have hit the road for bread and back. He ran ahead, and I, having reached the nearest clearing, began to beckon. But since it was late in the evening and noticeably darker, no one responded to my plaintive meow. Apparently, the birds have already gone to sleep. There was nothing to do, and after blowing several times into the decoy to clear my conscience, I dejectedly wandered off to meet my friend. So he walked for several minutes, looking at his feet, until he raised his head and was dumbfounded again. A fox was rolling towards me along the same path again.

We noticed each other almost at the same time and froze, looking eye to eye. The gun is on the shoulder, and the seven "dispersant" is loaded into the "Browning". I, in fact, because of her, and grabbed a gun.

The novice hunter, having missed the “dispersant” several times on magpies and pigeons, declared that nothing could be shot at all with this cartridge. I argued that for 15-20 steps a sizar and a magpie can be taken with anything, even buckwheat porridge. To prove this to him, I loaded a cartridge designed for close range. But the beast is not 15 steps away, and the seven is too small a fraction. At best, it will be a useless wounded animal. Therefore, when the fox jumped to the side, I did not even raise my gun. But seriously thought about it. The second case in two days is no longer a coincidence, but a system.

The next day, to no avail, they traced a hare in neighboring areas. The swindler climbed under some barn and, coming out from the other side, calmly disappeared, leaving us in the cold. It seemed that luck finally turned away. Nevertheless, towards the evening we decided to try the option with semolina. Seriously prepared. Dress warmly, leave cigarettes at home to avoid temptation, and set off "for the fox."

Where to guard was determined in the afternoon, while hunting for a hare. One corner of the field was completely trampled by old fox tracks. In addition, the remains of cows were once thrown out here, so there were chances. Frankly speaking, I still did not really believe in the decoy and therefore settled down on the very edge of the field, this time taking a carbine with me.

The hope was for an idly staggering or mouse fox, which can be reached for a hundred or more meters. The partner went deeper into the forest and stood with his back to me, controlling the approach. When everything calmed down, I began to beckon.

With an interval of 5-7 minutes, the evening silence was torn by the plaintive cries of a dying hare. Time passed, but nothing happened. The field remained depressingly empty, and the darkness inexorably approached. Finally, I stopped distinguishing the front sight and lowered the carbine (I had not yet shot the optics and went without it). Still continued to beckon, because. shot shot was not yet hopeless. At that moment, when I thought it was time to give the all-clear signal, a shot rang out, followed immediately by another and, finally, a cry full of triumph from the forest: “Killed! Lies! A fox!!!"
Three seconds later I was at the scene. The hunter's face glowed with triumph even in the darkness. Still, it was his first fox, and she lay about eight steps from the place where he stood. From the confused story of the lucky man, I realized that he saw the beast only twenty steps away. The fox ran strictly to the call of the decoy. The hunter was in her way. About 15 meters away, the “redhead” stood up and began to carefully examine his figure. The barrels of the gun were pointed in the other direction, and he could not move. At that moment, I once again shouted into the call, and the fox, rushing to the call, was three meters from the shooter. With the first shot, at close range, he missed and got the beast only with the second.

The return was truly triumphant. All evening, neighbors were reaching out to us to look at the trophy. Unfortunately, in the morning I had to leave for Moscow, but there was a whole winter ahead, and most importantly, we were armed with a miracle decoy for forty kopecks.

S. Losev. Magazine "MASTERRUGIO" №156

Read the author's feature: Red Cheatand essays: Common fox: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;

FOX BIOLOGY: Reproduction Yu.A. GERASIMOV(Zagotizdat, Moscow, 1950)

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, you 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 footprints 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 Kiev region, in 1948/49, there were 8-9 holes per area of ​​40 square kilometers, and in the Moscow region (Losinoostrovskoe 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 picture: 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.

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, it 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 (late August - early 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, the level of androgens in the blood rises 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 body of the animal, 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 failing 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.

Due to its prevalence, fox hunting has never been prohibited, except in some countries and for certain species due to their limitations. These animals are found almost everywhere: near human habitation, in plains and mountains, steppes and deserts, in forest-type lands, as well as in river valleys.

The food of the fox is so varied that this beast can remain hungry only in the harsh winter season, when the fish are under water, the birds are few in number, there are simply no insectivores, fish are under water, rodents are underground, and the “burial sites” are littered with snow.

The immediate habitat of the fox is an area with a diameter of 6 to 10 kilometers. This size varies depending on the food and the season of the year. Due to the limited burrowing, the individual sections overlap each other.

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mating season

The rut of foxes living in middle latitudes begins in February. Its timing can vary widely and depend on several parameters. For one female, 5 or even 6 males can run at once. Fighting in this case is inevitable. The strongest male always stays with the female. Such is the horse of nature.

The female attracts the necessary attention with her voice. During the mating season for many species of animals and birds, this is the most common and natural way. During the rut period, the marking reflex is extremely activated in foxes - this is marking the habitat with their own urine. This is due to relationships within species.

Mating takes place in the first decade of March. Pregnancy in female foxes lasts about 49 - 58 days. One female can bring up to 13 cubs at a time, but the average figure, which is recorded most often, is from 4 to 6 cubs.

Almost all foxes cub inside their prepared burrows. Outside their limits, this happens extremely rarely and is associated with some kind of emergency, for example, flooding. All foxes are born blind. They mature gradually over the course of two weeks.

Offspring - the process of education

For obvious reasons, during this period, fox hunting is strictly prohibited in the middle lane. Dead offspring - a small achievement. If at the beginning of the rut you can still turn a blind eye to the insatiable desire to hunt foxes, then in the first decade of March and right up to the warm July days it is better to forget about it. The offspring must be given life and fed, because foxes are one of the orderlies of the forest and any other area where they live.

An amazing discovery for many will be the fact that foxes communicate with each other. Several animals use one path at once. Hare trails - all foxes use them, because. this makes it easier to find food and saves a lot of energy.

From the hole, fox cubs begin to make their first sorties only after 20-25 days. The lactation period for foxes lasts 1.5 months. It is surprising that both parents raise the babies (the male does not leave the female after mating). The cubs try to start their independent life in August. Here, the breakdown of the brood is stated, especially if the main source of food (mouse-like rodents) in the vicinity is very small. Otherwise, the brood may be near the native norm until November or even December.

Peculiarities of burrowing and the need for species control

There are not so many places for burrowing in nature, because. they require both the proximity of a water source and a certain soil structure. If fox fishing is intensive, then their life expectancy is no more than 2 years, however, there are places where individuals live up to 7-8 years and this is a very respectable age.

In order to trace the sides of the ecology of foxes, animals are captured and marked. The greatest success in this was achieved by the hunters of the GDR, but here you always need to make small adjustments for the geographical area and some features of the animals. The results of this process make it possible to determine the age of animals, their level of fertility, and some other indicators necessary to predict the abundance of a given species.

Briefly about the fox.

The common or red fox is the most common and largest species of the fox genus. An individual plot occupied by a pair or a family of foxes should provide them not only with sufficient food, but also with places suitable for burrowing. Meanwhile, foxes usually use permanent shelters only during the period of raising cubs.

Like the wolf, the fox is a monogamous animal that breeds once a year. Rutting time and its effectiveness depend on the weather and fatness of the animals. There are years when up to 60% of females remain without offspring. The female is often courted by two or three males, bloody fights occur between them.

We also note that foxes are good parents. Males, along with females, take an active part in raising offspring, and also take care of their girlfriends even before the appearance of foxes. They improve burrows and even catch fleas from females.

In a litter, there are from 4 to 12 puppies, first covered with dark brown hair. Outwardly, they resemble wolf cubs, but differ in the white tip of the tail. They begin to see and hear at two weeks of age. In general, about six months pass from the time of the rut to the final exit of the fox cubs from the hole. At the same time, young animals that leave the parental den are usually located at a distance of 2 to 30 km from it.

Of the senses, the fox has the most developed sense of smell and hearing; vision is much less developed - therefore, for example, a fox can come very close to a motionless sitting or standing person from a windy side.

During the rut and just in a state of excitement, the fox emits a jerky loud bark. The male barks, almost like a dog, without howling, the female makes a triple “bark”, which ends with a short howl. In the wild, foxes rarely live more than seven years, often life expectancy does not exceed three. In captivity, animals live up to 20-25 years.

Source: http://www.viptrophy.com/

Fox hunting.

Many of us hunt foxes. This is one of the most popular hunts. The methods of prey are literally inexhaustible in fantasy - from corralling on horseback and hunting with a golden eagle to luring to a mouse squeak and stalking at the bait. With flags, a fox is hunted in much the same way as a wolf, but it is much easier to get it in this way, because its daily course is much shorter than that of a gray counterpart. If hunters know fox dens, then hunting can be started right from the salary.

The most probable places of daytime foxes go around in a circle, adhering to clearings, sights, paths and roads, that is, the most open places, so as not to prematurely frighten off the beast. If it is known that there are badger or fox holes in the hunting area, they must be “cut out” from the salary or encircled with flags, otherwise during the rut the fox will go down and it will be impossible to get it without burrowing dogs.

When setting the salary, it is especially necessary to carefully examine the old tracks and hare paths, using which the fox can get out of the salary before flagging. If, after the salary, the number of entrance tracks exceeds the number of output tracks, the animal is considered to be taxed. It is more difficult to solve the problem with an equal number of input and output traces. In this case, special attention is paid to the freshness of the traces. If the morning, the entrance track is fresh, the salary must be flagged.

To attract foxes, a bait is laid out - usually the carcass of a fallen domestic animal. It is best to place it in a high and always open place, but not far from the forest, bushes and other grounds favorable for daytime foxes. If the bait has tall single trees, magpies and crows fly and sit on them, helping the animals to find the bait. In addition, it has long been noticed that a fox goes to a bait pecked by birds more readily than to an untouched one. Having sated, the fox settles down for a day at a relatively short distance from the bait. For fox hunting, a two-kilometer set of flags is usually sufficient. In those places where they did not hunt with flags and the animals are not frightened, it is possible to make small salaries, up to 1 km long. The flags are hung so that their ends touch the surface of the snow. It is advisable to hunt in a closed circle, and two people are enough to participate in it: a shooter and a beater.

You need to drive the fox calmly, without screaming. Moved from the prone, she walks along the line of flags in search of a way out and, in the end, stumbles upon the shooter.

Hunting can be simplified with some experience and in places where the beast is not frightened. When laying down the beast, the cord with flags is not hung on the bushes, but placed directly on the surface of the snow. You can hunt with flags until the end of the hunting season. For a hunter, fox hunting with hounds is of great interest. A dog for this hunt needs to be frisky enough and, most importantly, viscous, capable of not leaving a trace, even if the beast has taken it far from the owner. They go hunting before dawn to catch the fox feeding. A fox picked up from its bed or caught on the move often goes in a straight line for a considerable distance, sometimes up to 5 km, leading the dogs along with it. As a rule, after a while the fox returns back to the area of ​​​​its permanent habitat, which is more familiar to it, and here it continues to walk in small circles.

The size of the circle of the fox depends on the conditions of the area and the quality of the dogs. Frisky or, as they say, "flying" dogs force the fox to make large regular circles, and "foot" hounds allow the animal to walk for a long time in a small volume, in small irregular circles.

Hearing the approaching rut, the hunter must quickly stand on the supposed hole of the beast. Such a manhole can be a crossroads, the intersection of a road and a clearing or two clearings, narrow valleys. If the hunter "saw" the fox, but it is out of the shot, you should carefully move to the place where it just passed: the fox loves to follow its own path. The fox avoids open, clean places during the rut. It passes through glades in the narrowest places, using the cover of individual bushes and uneven terrain: ditches, depressions and even road ditches.

When choosing a hole, the hunter should leave as few marks as possible on the rut. It is necessary to stand quietly on the hole and not make sudden movements, even raising the gun when the beast approaches should only be when it is already within the range of a sure shot.

Often, during such a hunt, the fox hides from the hounds in his hole, if the entrance to it was not previously clogged with hunters. In order to get a burrowed fox, some amateur hunters use burrowing dogs - dachshunds and terriers.

The duration of a fox hunt with a hound depends on the conditions of the year. It starts with the opening of the hunting season for fur-bearing animals, and ends when deep snow makes it difficult for the dog to work.

Hunting by stealth is a difficult, but interesting and very sporty way. Before snow falls, it is almost impossible to notice a mouse fox against the background of yellow-brown vegetation, so the hunt begins with the appearance of a white trail. The most convenient places for such hunting will be open lands with a soft relief: meadows and fields interspersed with small copses, islands of shrubs, ravines and lowlands overgrown with weeds, wide floodplains of large rivers, etc.

You should go hunting at dawn, when the fox is still feeding. Carefully examining the area, the hunter moves around the land, trying to stay against the wind. Field binoculars and camouflage robes can be of great help here. When a fox is found feeding, the hunter must determine the general direction of its movement and, depending on the conditions of the area, either hide the animal using natural shelters, or try to go ahead and wait for its approach.

When hunting a fox from an approach, some hunters use a decoy, with which they imitate the squeak of a mouse, or imitate its squeak, sucking in air, pressing the back of their hand to their lips. The fox catches the squeak of a mouse at a distance of up to 300 m. The success of this hunt depends entirely on the endurance and skill of the hunter. In some areas, with the help of decoy, they imitate the cry of a hare.

During the years of abundance of mouse-like rodents, foxes feeding in daylight are rare: they are quite content with night hunting.

At the end of winter, in February, when the foxes start rutting, hunting from the approach is the most prey. During this period, foxes often walk during the day, and are found not only in pairs, but also in groups of 3-5 individuals. Hunters call such groups "fox wedding". They usually consist of a female and several males chasing her. Noticing the foxes, the hunter tries to determine the female by their behavior and, having dispersed the animals, pursues her, driving her away for 1-1.5 km.

Mouse foxes are also hunted together, combining approach with surge. At the same time, one of the hunters tries to imperceptibly go forward along the course of the beast, and the other carefully directs it towards a friend.

Experienced hunters successfully catch a fox by trailing through fresh snow. By the nature of the trail, they determine the fox that has finished the hunt and is heading to the lair. In the forest, the fox lies near the trunk of a tree, on tussocks, stumps, or under the root inversion, and in open places among the fields - in ravines, in bushes and weeds. Well-fed foxes sleep very soundly and often let them in for a close shot. It is easier to approach them on soft snow in warm weather and on windy days.

They also shoot foxes, lying in wait for them at a specially laid out bait - carrion.