Rudi Von Sternberg

Okay so the other day when I asked you to guess who it was I was a little cheeky. . .

On the 14th of March we gained a new addition to our family in the form of a third Corsac fox, Rudi.
As Harry and Elspeth are named after the main character and the wife of the main character of my all time fave books I thougth it fitting for out third corsac to also be named after a character from the Flashman books. Rudi Von Sternberg in 'Royal Flash' (the second book) is fully Flashman’s equal in everything but courage (Rudi actually has some), and is the main foil for Flashman.

Rudi came to us as a rehome from someone we have known for a while, when she told us she had him there was no way that we could turn him down! So the photo was of Rudi Von Sternberg, the corsac fox and for those of you that guessed it was Harry he does look more like Harry then Elspeth and you were not to know hehe!

Rudi is a stunning boy. His brush is so long it really puts both Harry and Elspeth's to shame and he is shockingly big for a corsac measuring 600mm in length! (The largest corsac I have ever read about measured 560mm.) I am unsure of his weight at present as I have not had a chance to weigh him yet.

Now young Rudi has one problem. . . One of his legs is not quite right, he cannot walk on it or weigh bare on it at all and his original owner (not the woman we got him from) did not bother to get it sorted out so I am very worried about it as the longer you leave this sort of thing the harder it is to fix. I have not had a chance to check it out myself to even get a vague idea what it could be as he is very protective of his leg.

I shall let you all know how he is when I get back from the vets tomorrow.

When Rudi came home on Monday night we moved him from a pet carrier to a crate in Harry and Elspeth's bedroom where he spend the next day. Both Harry and Elspeth were very interested in the new arrival and wanted to play with him. Harry was the first to walk up to the crate and he had a good sniff of Rudi, head to tail through the bars. Rudi stood still during this and did not seem to mind much at all meanwhile Elspeth watched from under the sofa (which has become her domain). Upon Harry's return to Elspeth they both went under the sofa and had a chat about Rudi I think and then Harry got sent out again and he had a chat with Rudi (I would love to know what about!). Some way through their conversation Elspeth came out and joint them. She was acting very oddly going up to Rudi and sniffing his nose then showing him under her tail! Harry seemed upset by this and shouted at her.

On Wednesday Harry wanted Rudi out of the crate and Rudi wanted out so under close supervision I let him out. When I opened the door he just sat there and looked out. Harry went in and sat with him for a while then came and sat with me. About 2 hours later he came out. He was trying to use his bad leg but it was not going well for him. I wonder if he was trying to hide his problem from the other two? Harry hoped off the sofa to see him and Harry showed him all around their room; the toys, the blankets, where I store their treats and where to go to the toilet (which was amazing as he copied Harry peeing in the litter tray!). Rudi was having such fun until Harry jumped on his coffee table and thought that Rudi would follow but he could not. . . His leg was holding him back. I felt bad for Rudi as you could see it in his eyes that he wanted more then anything to follow his new friend. I think Harry felt bad for him as he hopped down and trotted around on the floor with him until Elspeth woke up.

When Elspeth came out from under the sofa she was not happy, I suppose the boys were too loud for her to sleep through she she came out so fast and charged at Rudi. She worried him SO much that he leapt on the table, his front paw barely touched it. For the rest of the day he would not come down for anything! (He even slept on the table!)

Now is dinner time in the Flashman household however young Rudi cannot have any as he may need to be sedated tomorrow for x-rays, poor boy he looks like he is drooling over their Gizmo burgers!