Vocalizations by red fox in natural and climatic conditions of Mordovia

What is it about?

The vocalization of different animal species carries a lot of scientific information about thevarious features of their biology and ecology. There are very few works devoted to this topic,most of them affect only certain groups of animals [1-3]. Although, undoubtedly, studies ofthis nature must be carried out in relation to many actively vocalizing species. Literaturesources devoted to representatives of the Canidae order (Canidae) do not contain detailedinformation about the time and timing of the activity of different species. Often onlyapproximate dates of vocal activity are given. One of these species is the red fox Vulpesvulpes L., 1758. For Russia, it is not known that detailed year-round studies on thevocalization of the red fox in nature have been carried out. Of undoubted interest, at whathours of the day do foxes show the greatest and least vocal activity? And also howvocalization changes by seasons and months. Also, what are the possible reasons for this? The daily and seasonal vocalization of the red fox was traced.Year-round studies were carried out using digital voice recorders.

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Why is it important?

Foxbarking was recorded in the frequency range from 700 to 3600 Hz. Thecackling of the fox was recorded in the frequency range from 500 to 2500Hz. Fox calls were recorded in all seasons of the year, but the mostpronounced peaks of prolonged activity in the year were recorded in springand autumn. The vocal activity of the red fox was noted for the entire periodof the study from 17:51 to 01:38. During this period, the total duration ofcalls in the red fox varied from 34 sec to 27 min per day, 4 min on average.86% of all call registrations in the region occurred before midnight, the rest(14%) after midnight. Vocalization began after sunset for an average of 2 h 49 min.

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