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House Mouse (Mus musculus) Avoidance of Olfactory Cues from Ferrets and Other Mammalian and Reptilian Predators: Preliminary Results

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Chemical Signals in Vertebrates 14

Abstract

Like other small rodents, house mice (Mus musculus) are at the bottom of vertebrate predator -dominated food chain. After humans, house mice are the most widespread mammal on earth. With their short reproductive cycle and prolificity, they can quickly produce large populations that form a basic source of nutrients for a wide spectrum of predators. As macrosmatic animals, mice use olfaction as a primary tool to avoid predators. However, further research is required to fully understand the main predator olfactory cues and behavioral reactions linked to these stimuli . This study examines the chemical cues used by house mice to detect mammalian and reptilian predators. For this purpose, we carried out a choice test where, during a 10 min period, we measured the total duration that mice remained in either the area closest to or farthest from the predatory stimulus (ferret fur and faeces , snake sheds, fox faeces , dog faeces , and cat urine ); mice had no physical access to the stimulus, and both compared areas were identical. Our preliminary results show that mice significantly avoided ferret olfactory stimuli from fur and faeces . The other predator stimuli did not elicit significant avoidance . However, in some cases, this may be due to specific genetic and phenotypic features of the mouse strain tested. Our results are in line with previous work with ferret olfactory stimuli in mice . Nevertheless, further research should examine the role of ferret olfactory cues and semiochemicals as good indicators of their presence that lead to avoidance behaviour of rodents.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge X. Duchemin and X. Bonnet for the snake sheds, and E. Landen for English proofreading.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Behavioural and Physiological Mechanisms of Adaptation (DMPCA), Research Institute in Semiochemistry and Applied Ethology (IRSEA), Quartier Salignan, Apt, France

    Carlos Grau

  2. Statistical Analysis Department, Research Institute in Semiochemistry and Applied Ethology (IRSEA), Quartier Salignan, Apt, France

    Eva Teruel

  3. Animal Experimentation Unit, Research Institute in Semiochemistry and Applied Ethology (IRSEA), Quartier Salignan, Apt, France

    Julius Leclercq

  4. Department of Chemicals Identification and Development of Analogues, Research Institute in Semiochemistry and Applied Ethology (IRSEA), Quartier Salignan, Apt, France

    Patrick Pageat

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  1. Carlos Grau
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  2. Eva Teruel
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  4. Patrick Pageat
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Correspondence to Carlos Grau .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, UK

    Christina D. Buesching

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Grau, C., Teruel, E., Leclercq, J., Pageat, P. (2019). House Mouse (Mus musculus) Avoidance of Olfactory Cues from Ferrets and Other Mammalian and Reptilian Predators: Preliminary Results. In: Buesching, C. (eds) Chemical Signals in Vertebrates 14. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-17616-7_13

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