Defensive responses of Brandt's voles (Lasiopodomys brandtii) to stored cat feces

Hegab, Ibrahim M.; Jin, Yajuan; Ye, Manhong; Wang, Aiqin; Yin, Baofa; Yang, Shengmei; Wei, Wanhong

doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2013.10.030

Cited by 37 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 41 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Many animals are seen to use chemical cues from predators to first assess any risk of predation (Kats and Dill 1998). In addition to the stressful situation of a direct encounter of a potential predator, just the odours of a predator may act as a strong stressor (Hegab et al 2014). From the overall results seen within this study, these physiological stresses within the dogs are true, as in all instances the presence of a lynx and bear scent suppressed the amount of time spent around the scent and an increase in heart rate of the dogs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fears from the past? The innate ability of dogs to detect predator scents

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Throughout the animal kingdom, antipredator mechanisms are an evolutionary driving force to enable the survival of species classified as prey. Information regarding a predator's location can be determined through chemosensory cues from urine, faeces, visual and/or acoustic signals and anal gland secretions; and in several lab and field-based studies it has been seen that these cues mediate behavioural changes within prey species. These behaviours are often linked to fear and avoidance, which will in turn increase the prey's survival rate. In many studies dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) have been used as a predator species, however, no research has addressed a dog's innate ability to detect predator scents, hence the rationale behind this study. We assessed the innate ability of the untrained domestic dog to detect faecal scents of wild Eurasian brown bear (Ursus arctos arctos) and European lynx (Lynx lynx). The study monitored 82 domestic dogs across the UK and Norway. The dogs were exposed to the two predator faecal scents from Eurasian brown bear and European lynx, a herbivore faecal scent of Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) and water control. Measurements were taken upon the time spent within a 40 cm radius of each scent and changes in the dog's heart rate when within this 40 cm radius. We found dogs spent a decreased length of time around the predator scents and had an increased heart rate in relation to their basal heart rate. We conclude that dogs can innately sense predator scents of brown bear and lynx and elicit fear towards these odours, as shown through behavioural and physiological changes.Publisher's Note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fears from the past? The innate ability of dogs to detect predator scents

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The predator odor failing to elicit aversive behaviors in the present study conforms with many other studies that have exposed rodent species from wild populations to predator cues both in lab [17,25,56] and eld [32,57,58] contexts. Furthermore, many studies that have found signi cant effects of predator odors performed their experiments on captive-bred rodents [22,26,59,60]. The domestication process of captive rodents may lead to an inhibition of behavioral variation and adaptability [33,61], resulting in more pronounced responses to foreign odorous stimuli.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since a main objective of this study was to test the immediate responses of wild-caught rodents to a novel environment and predator odor, our experimental design did not incorporate lengthy intervals between testing. Additionally, many predator odor studies have used similar experimental durations and intervals [17,30,59,60]. Our study does provide a rst-step approach for evaluating inter-speci c habituation to a microenvironment in a controlled setting for the included species.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bigger doesn’t mean bolder: Behavioral variation of four wild rodent species to novelty and predation risk following a fast-slow continuum

Best

Shaner

Lo³

et al. 2020

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Understanding how wild species respond to novel situations with associated risk can provide valuable insights for inter-specific behavioral variation and associations with pace-of-life (POL). Rodents, a globally distributed and diverse taxonomic group, have been the subjects of countless studies emulating risky situations. Controlled laboratory experiments with a focus on wild-caught species provide the opportunity to test fine-scale behavioral responses to contexts of risk with ecological implications. For example, assessing the importance of predator cues eliciting antipredator responses, as well as whether wild rodents embody behavioral plasticity and repertoires, illustrated by habituation and variation in behavioral traits, respectively. Results: In this comparative study, we examined multiple behavioral responses of four rodent species in eastern Taiwan (three native species Mus caroli, Apodemus agrarius, Rattus losea, and one invasive, Rattus exulans) exposed to an unfamiliar microenvironment and novel cue from an allopatric predator, the leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis). All wild-caught animals were subjected to two consecutive nights of experimental trials in a laboratory setting. Behavioral responses to a novel situation during the first trial differed between species; smaller species investing more time in non-defensive behaviors compared to the larger species. More specifically, the smaller species M. caroli and A. agrarius allocated more time to exploration and foraging, whereas the larger rat species R. exulans and R. losea spent more time motionless or concealing. During the second trial, the addition of leopard cat cues did not elicit antipredator behaviors, but rather, rodents were found to exhibit increased non-defensive behaviors, specifically foraging efforts. Conclusions: Our results suggest that these four species do largely follow a behavioral fast-slow continuum with the two smaller mice species demonstrating increased boldness in a novel context compared to the larger rat species. Also, the wild populations of rodents in eastern Taiwan may be naïve to leopard cats. Finally, the rodents in our study demonstrated habituation to the microenvironment, indicating they possess adaptive capacity.

show abstract

“…During these visits, the risk for voles is high, but in between the visits low. Thus, aging of predator scent, disappearance of odor compounds in time, and the effects of different aged odors on prey response need to be studied more as there are only a few relevant studies so far (Hegab et al 2014;Sánchez-González et al 2018).…”

Section: Recognition Of Fearmentioning

confidence: 99%

Voles and weasels in the boreal Fennoscandian small mammal community: what happens if the least weasel disappears due to climate change?

Ylönen

Haapakoski

Sievert

et al. 2019

Integrative Zoology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Climate change, habitat loss and fragmentation are major threats for populations and a challenge for individual behavior, interactions and survival. Predator–prey interactions are modified by climate processes. In the northern latitudes, strong seasonality is changing and the main predicted feature is shortening and instability of winter. Vole populations in the boreal Fennoscandia exhibit multiannual cycles. High amplitude peak numbers of voles and dramatic population lows alternate in 3–5‐year cycles shortening from North to South. One key factor, or driver, promoting the population crash and causing extreme extended lows, is suggested to be predation by the least weasel. We review the arms race between prey voles and weasels through the multiannual density fluctuation, affected by climate change, and especially the changes in the duration and stability of snow cover. For ground‐dwelling small mammals, snow provides thermoregulation and shelter for nest sites, and helps them hide from predators. Predicted increases in the instability of winter forms a major challenge for species with coat color change between brown summer camouflage and white winter coat. One of these is the least weasel, Mustela nivalis nivalis. Increased vulnerability of wrong‐colored weasels to predation affects vole populations and may have dramatic effects on vole dynamics. It may have cascading effects on other small rodent–predator interactions and even on plant–animal interactions and forest dynamics.

show abstract

Defensive responses of Brandt's voles (Lasiopodomys brandtii) to stored cat feces

Cited by 37 publications

References 41 publications

Fears from the past? The innate ability of dogs to detect predator scents

Fears from the past? The innate ability of dogs to detect predator scents

Bigger doesn’t mean bolder: Behavioral variation of four wild rodent species to novelty and predation risk following a fast-slow continuum

Voles and weasels in the boreal Fennoscandian small mammal community: what happens if the least weasel disappears due to climate change?

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About