Corsac or steppe Fox. Cute critter, kind of foxes, canine. Similar to an ordinary Fox, but the size is significantly smaller. Its weight four to six pounds, the color is reddish-gray or gray with a reddish tinge. Fur from Korsak though not as pretty as his older sisters, but thick with a dense undercoat and very warm.
Corsac lives in burrows, but digging them up is lazy, so often uses old, abandoned burrows of foxes and badgers, where there are multiple entrances and exits, or deepens and broadens rodent burrows, marmots, for example.
In winter in the same burrow can be several individuals from the same litter. Despite the fact that “youth” upon reaching “adulthood” disperses through the neighborhood in search of their sections, in winter, they often return to the fold: the cold, apparently, also not my aunt.
Korsak is a night predator. Hunt, according to official data, in the twilight, but when you go at night on the steppe, in the headlights they are constantly — then hunt at night too, otherwise, why would they idle on the steppe wander?.. But it might as well be wandering corsac. Due to the lack of food they sometimes have to migrate to more favorable lands and make their migration at night.
Korsak day will not see. There are data that Korsakov was hunting with greyhounds Asian dogs, or they allegedly came under gunfire during the hunting of hares and pheasants. I don’t know… I often hunted in their habitats, and only once Korsak ran out from the bushes and was hit by my shot. This was in late fall when the fur is still not quite winter. Skin Korsak by December only becomes really valuable.
Amateur hunting as such on Korsak no. The fishermen their catch from bait, set traps on the exits from the burrow or, as they say, pour water in the holes while Korsak runs out and gets shot. But it is possible far not everywhere. Korsak often live in arid places, maybe for a long time to go without water: in places where so much water to take for such hunting? Especially in the winter. We have such “fishers” poaching manners, the inhabitant of the neighboring mining town, used for this purpose is the motorcycle. Residential finding the hole, he dipped it in the rubber hose connected to the muffler, started the bike and waited. Korsak “fragrance” could not resist and jumped out of the hole themselves. The barbaric way, to be sure, though not much worse water options.
My neighbor for catching Korsakov installed a special trap in places where there was their holes. Who knows, by whom it was invented, and its essence is as follows. From wooden reek in the length of about two meters short of the square and is strengthened by means of stakes or stones at half-meter height from the earth’s surface in a horizontal position. Around the perimeter of the rails are attached to the loops of any diameter, preferably ten to twenty centimeters at a distance of fifteen centimeters from each other. The best and available material for their manufacture is of field telephone wire. Loop dangle freely between earth and rails. Inside the box lay the bait.
Fox in a trap comes too, but rarely: apparently, she has more brains and catching Korsakov the trap worked flawlessly. Having scented the bait, Korsak somehow doesn’t know to jump over the rail with hinges, certainly crawls through the loop and sooner or later becomes entangled.
Interested in this, I too have built such a trap, even a portable version, and tested. As a result, about a dozen Korsakov caught over the winter. But such fishing I like does not come, however, as trap, and I stopped. Talking about this now, given the current situation: neither Fox or corsac now nobody needs, and hardly anyone will use this “tip”, and the ingenuity of the inventor to evaluate costs.
There is evidence that Korsak made or entered in the Red book. Came and it’s his turn. The exact number Korsakov has always been unknown, such, apparently, and left. When and who counted them? And how? The question arises: on what basis they are entered in this book with them-what happened?
In winter Korsakov come times of famine. Birds flew, many rodents have their hibernation, insects and not at all. Corsac forced to feed on carrion and the remains of carcasses, the dead and half-eaten by wolves, saiga antelope and gazelles. After wandering in search of a better life saiga wander the wolves, and after them, and corsac. Other unfavorable years, the number Korsakov, as written, is reduced by ten and more times. And then there’s “mad” wolves and foxes to kill Korsakov accepted as competitors in the food chain. Hunger does not understand, what the color of your skin…
But in our area, in the East of the desert Betpak-Dala, corsac winter was quite wealthy. There were envelopes Balkhash lake migration routes of the saiga: a lot of them died for different reasons, so in winter their carcasses were scattered everywhere. In the end, food was scarce and the foxes, and corsac. Wolves are known to prefer fresh meat, but they food was scarce, even remained, but the “white line” is, alas, over. Once in the red book, the saiga antelope was dragged and Korsak. Here is the answer to my question.
Ruined saiga, and the thread was pulled… Who’s next? Domestic sheep-sheep? The wolves are also without food will remain…
