Scent Marking in Free-Ranging Mammals. Examples: Beaver or Badger

Abstract

Scent marking plays a central role in the social organization and mating behavior of mammals. This exercise on scent marking can start as a general ecological project that addresses many aspects of behavior and ecology of a particular mammal species in the wild. Once the overall social organization of the species and the particular population has been sketched out, we can narrow the project down to scent communication as essential part of the fabric of an animal’s daily life. We can study dogs on campus, cats in our neighborhood, badgers in agricultural areas, or beavers in wooded areas, depending on where we live. Badgers, for example, defend a territory, maintain latrine sites, and mark with their subcaudal gland. The scent marking follows a seasonal pattern, and latrine site use is also correlated with food abundance (Pigozzi 1990).

In the following we focus on scent marking in beavers. Since this species happens to be primarily nocturnal, we study the results of marking, rather than the behavior itself. Many of the questions can also be asked for badgers, for instance. This exercise is particularly suited for field courses in or near wooded areas where beavers occur.

This exercise consists of three parts that can be done in sequence or separately, depending on the time available: General survey of the site, which raises a variety of broader biological and ecological questions; specific study of existing scent marks and their distribution; placing experimental scent marks of a particular description and observing the behavioral responses and products of overmarking.