Bioacoustics of Vulpes corsac

Movements, Home range and Social organization. The basic social unit is the breeding pair, and monogamous pairs may persist for life. During winter, several Corsacs may gather in a single den, indicating a relatively high degree of sociality. Polygamous families may occur under favorable feeding conditions. In optimal habitats during years of high prey abundance, the home range of a family pair may be as small as 1 km ?. In contrast, home ranges are significantly larger in habitats with low food abundance, and may reach 35-40 km ?. Corsacs occupy dens, often the burrows of marmots, during the day. Dens provide shelter from weather, but may also serve as important refuges from predation by larger canids such as Wolves and Red Foxes. Scent marking is important for maintaining territories, and marking with urine and feces is most frequent near dens. Barking is the most common vocalization. Barks have many different tonal variations, and are used during courtship, territorial demonstrations, and alarm. They are higher in pitch than the barks of Red Foxes and sound similar to a cat’s mew. Close distance vocalizations include high-tone rhythmic sounds, peeping, chirping, and yelping.