Directional preference may enhance hunting accuracy in foraging foxes

Abstract

Red foxes hunting small animals show a specific behaviour known as 'mousing'. The fox jumps high, so that it surprises its prey from above. Hearing seems to be the primary sense for precise prey location in high vegetation or under snow where it cannot be detected with visual cues. A fox preparing for the jump displays a high degree of auditory attention. Foxes on the prowl tend to direct their jumps in a roughly north-eastern compass direction. When foxes are hunting in high vegetation and under snow cover, successful attacks are tightly clustered to the north, while attacks in other directions are largely unsuccessful. The direction of attacks was independent of time of day, season of the year, cloud cover and wind direction. We suggest that this directional preference represents a case of magnetic alignment and enhances the precision of hunting attacks.

Use of bio-loggers to characterize red fox behavior with implications for studies of magnetic alignment responses in free-roaming animals

“…The north-northeast alignment of mousing behavior is consistent with SMA responses exhibited by a variety of terrestrial vertebrates [16]. Interestingly, when a direct view of the prey was obstructed by high vegetation or snow cover, foxes more accurately aligned their attacks to the north-northeast and were approximately 3-4 times more successful at capturing prey than when aligned in other magnetic directions [27]. The authors proposed that the alignment behavior observed in foxes could be mediated by a light-dependent magnetoreception mechanism, similar to that used by migratory birds, newts, and insects [7,14,[28][29][30][31][32][33] where specialized photopigments undergo a photo-induced chemical reaction that is sensitive to the alignment of the magnetic field.…”

“…Visual observations of 'mousing' red foxes, in which a fox is attracted to the sounds produced by small rodents and then performs an arching leap ('mousing') to land on the prey from above, showed a strong tendency for mousing attacks to be directed toward magnetic north-northeast [27]. The north-northeast alignment of mousing behavior is consistent with SMA responses exhibited by a variety of terrestrial vertebrates [16].…”

“…Given the indirect ('ballistic') trajectory of mousing attacks, the accuracy of such attacks may be greater if they are initiated from a fixed distance and performed using a stereotyped set of mousing mechanics. Interestingly, the small clustering of successful mousing attacks directed toward magnetic south [27] suggests that the opposite end of the magnetic axis may also guide mousing behavior, and is consistent with an axially symmetrical pattern of magnetic input as proposed by [26,34,40]. Therefore, SMA in red foxes is thought to result from the fox aligning components of the visual pattern, providing a targeting system helping to estimate the distance of the unseen prey, increasing the likelihood of successful prey capture [27].…”

“…The development of these automated behavioral monitoring and classification techniques will make it possible to further investigate magnetic alignment responses exhibited by foraging red foxes whose prey capture success has been shown to be dependent on their orientation with respect to the Earth's magnetic field [27]. Červený et al 's analysis of prey capture success in habitats where visual cues could not be used to guide mousing behavior (i.e., dense vegetation and snow cover) revealed that foxes were approximately four times more successful when attacks were directed toward magnetic northnortheast.…”

Parasites with possible zoonotic potential in the small intestines of red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) from Northwest Bohemia (CzR)

“…Annual captures in the Czech Republic currently range between 60 000 -80 000, and populations continue to grow (Placata, 2011). The increase in the distribution and density of the red fox in most European countries could be explained by a mortality rate reduction, which is due to an intensive campaigns of vaccination against rabies (oral baits) as well as to the opportunist behaviour of this species (Hanosset et al, 2008;Červený et al, 2004). The red fox is a common host of several dangerous zoonotic parasites, primarily the tapeworm Echinococcus multilocularis, causative agent of alveolar echinococcosis, a parasitic disease that causes a severe hepatic disorder in humans .…”