Effect of concentration of anal gland scent lures on the capture rate of ferrets (<i>Mustela furo</i>) in winter and spring

Spurr, E. B.; Ragg, J. R.; O'Connor, C. E.; Hamilton, W. J.; Møller, Henrik; Woolhouse, Anthony D.; Morse, Chris W.; Morriss, G. A.; Arnold, Gérard; Clapperton, B. Kay

doi:10.1080/03014223.2004.9518374

Cited by 17 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Secretions were extracted using a needle and syringe inserted through the wall of the anal sac, mixed in vegetable oil and diluted to make a 1% solution. Previous studies have demonstrated detectability of, or attraction to, anal gland secretions at dilutions comparable to this, and lower, by ferrets (Woodley & Baum 2003;Spurr et al 2004) and stoats (Clapperton et al 1999). Secretions of each species appeared different in colour, consistency and odour, and the odour of the diluted solution was detectable to humans at a distance of approx.…”

Section: Odour Preparationmentioning

confidence: 73%

The Smell of New Competitors: The Response of American Mink,Mustela vison, to the Odours of Otter,Lutra lutraand Polecat,M. putorius

Harrington

Macdonald

2009

Ethology

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We tested the response of wild American mink (an established alien species in the UK), to the odours of unfamiliar mink, European polecat and Eurasian otter. Polecats are similar in size and habits to mink, otters are larger than mink and a dominant competitor; both are native to the UK and both were absent during the original colonization by mink but are now undergoing natural population recoveries. The response of mink to experimental odours was assessed by counting the numbers of tracks (footprints) on rafts treated with anal gland secretions, and compared with response to a control raft, on two rivers in the Upper Thames valley, UK. Remote video showed that the number of tracks was positively correlated with the time that mink spent investigating an odour. We found that mink were attracted to the odours of both unfamiliar mink and polecats. There was little evidence that mink avoided the odour of otters. We suggest that, during an encounter with a polecat, mink may behave much as they would to a conspecific. We infer from the response of mink to the odour of otters, that, if mink do avoid otters, the mechanism of avoidance is likely to be complex, situation‐dependent and perhaps affected by prior experience.

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Section: Odour Preparationmentioning

confidence: 73%

The Smell of New Competitors: The Response of American Mink,Mustela vison, to the Odours of Otter,Lutra lutraand Polecat,M. putorius

Harrington

Macdonald

2009

Ethology

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“…Stimuli are based on the 4F motivations of animal behaviour: food (energy demands), fornication (mating and other social interactions), fight (competition), and fear (predator avoidance). Individual variability will influence behavioural responses; for example, a stimulus that deters most individuals may attract others (e.g., aggressive conspecific vocalisation) or the rate of habituation can relate to an animal's personality [25,[71][72][73][74][75][76][77][78][79][80][81].…”

Section: How Can We Strategically Manage the Challenges And Opportunities Of Habituation To Devices?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Leveraging Motivations, Personality, and Sensory Cues for Vertebrate Pest Management

Garvey

Banks

Suraci

et al. 2020

Trends in Ecology & Evolution

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Managing vertebrate pests is a global conservation challenge given their undesirable socio-ecological impacts. Pest management often focuses on the 'average' individual, neglecting individual-level behavioural variation ('personalities') and differences in life histories. These differences affect pest impacts and modify attraction to, or avoidance of, sensory cues. Strategies targeting the average individual may fail to mitigate damage by 'rogues' (individuals causing disproportionate impact) or to target 'recalcitrants' (individuals avoiding standard control measures). Effective management leverages animal behaviours that relate primarily to four core motivations: feeding, fleeing, fighting, and fornication. Management success could be greatly increased by identifying and exploiting individual variation in motivations. We provide explicit suggestions for cue-based tools to manipulate these four motivators, thereby improving pest management outcomes.Looking Beyond the 'Average' Individual in Vertebrate Pest Management Vertebrate pests, including invasive or overabundant predators and herbivores, frequently come into conflict with economic, social, and biodiversity values. Mammalian predators are responsible for some of the most devastating losses to native biodiversity [1] and frequently harm humans, their livestock, and pets, while herbivores can cause agricultural damage, vehicle collisions, and ecosystem-level impacts including overbrowsing [2,3]. Mitigating the impacts of vertebrate pests thus presents one of the major challenges currently facing wildlife managers. Managers require effective strategies to: (i) reduce pest populations (e.g., by attracting individuals to traps or toxic baits), and (ii) deter individuals from sensitive areas or valuable species (e.g., threatened prey or plant species, livestock, agricultural, and forestry sites). Yet, pest control measures are often only partially effective [4,5], with some individuals avoiding lethal control or ignoring deterrents. Attractants and deterrents typically target the 'average' individual in a population, with the goal of maximising the number of animals responding to stimuli. However, the most intractable challenges of vertebrate pest management may occur precisely because some individuals do not behave like the average, and therefore, are not effectively targeted.Within a pest population, individuals exhibit a range of responses to management actions. Deviations from the average response may be transient (e.g., dependent on internal state, body condition, current perceived risk, or density of conspecifics) [6], or may represent persistent, individual-level behavioural differences ('personalities') [7,8]. By understanding the drivers of individual-level differences in behaviour, management can be optimized to target not just the average individual, but the full range of behavioural types within a population. Such insights may be particularly valuable in managing rogue and recalcitrant individuals (see Glossary), two non-exclusive behavioural types t...

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“…Each Scentinel in this trial was equipped with a Ferret-specific lure containing a 2% extract of female Ferret anal gland in a 3.5 g block of 'Albert' slow-release matrix. In previous experiments (Spurr et al . 2004), this formulation gave a significant increase in capture rate of Ferrets of both sexes.…”

Section: T H E S C E N T I N E L a U T O M A T E D M O N I T O Rmentioning

confidence: 85%

Continuous monitoring of predator control operations at landscape scale

King

McDonald²,

Martin³

et al. 2007

Eco Management Restoration

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Summary Exotic predators are considered pests to wildlife and agriculture, requiring predator‐control programs. Effective monitoring of predator‐control operations is essential to justify their considerable cost, but often impossible in practice. The difficulties are especially severe if the target species is small and wide‐ranging, and the area to be protected is inaccessible and/or extensive. A convenient model predator of this type, the feral Ferret (Mustela furo), is subject to control on farmland in New Zealand. We monitored the distribution of Ferrets over 2400 ha in the central North Island, before and throughout a standard control operation by professional trappers. We used 24 units of a new automated monitoring device, the Scentinel, set in a grid at 1 per 100 ha. Over 11 weeks (11 February to 29 April 2005, 1718 trap nights), we recorded 1559 visits by small mammals, including 198 by Ferrets. By the end of the 4th week, Ferrets had been detected at 17 of 24 sites. Removal of Ferrets from the study area by contractors began during the 5th week, and was reflected in significant declines in the number of Ferret visits recorded per day (P = 0.008) and the number of sites visited (P = 0.021). Analysis of our extensive repeat‐survey data by site‐occupancy methods confirmed these trends in greater detail, while also allowing for variation in detectability.

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Effect of concentration of anal gland scent lures on the capture rate of ferrets (Mustela furo) in winter and spring

Cited by 17 publications

References 10 publications

The Smell of New Competitors: The Response of American Mink,Mustela vison, to the Odours of Otter,Lutra lutraand Polecat,M. putorius

The Smell of New Competitors: The Response of American Mink,Mustela vison, to the Odours of Otter,Lutra lutraand Polecat,M. putorius

Leveraging Motivations, Personality, and Sensory Cues for Vertebrate Pest Management

Continuous monitoring of predator control operations at landscape scale

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