Article
Reducing Mammalian Predation on Eggs by Using a Conditioned Taste Aversion to Deceive Predators
The Journal of Wildlife Management
(1990)
Abstract
When chicken eggs injected with 20-25 mg of emetine dihydrochloride were distributed along 3 different 0.7-1.0-km transects, mammalian predators that had been feeding on untreated eggs developed a conditioned taste aversion and reduced their consumption of treated eggs by >75%. The predators, primarily raccoons (Procyon lotor), opossums (Didelphis virginiana), and striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis), continued to avoid untreated chicken eggs placed subsequently. In another experiment, equal numbers of emetine-treated and untreated eggs were distributed simultaneously along 4 different transects. Egg depredation rates were compared to depredation rates along 4 nearby transects where only untreated eggs were distributed. Egg depredation rates at treated and untreated sites did not differ during the 4-week test. Thus, it might be possible to reduce egg depredation by mammals by distributing emetine-treated egg baits prior to the onset of egg laying, but not after laying has begun.
Disciplines
Publication Date
1990
DOI
https://doi.org/10.2307/3809055
Citation Information
Michael Conover. "Reducing Mammalian Predation on Eggs by Using a Conditioned Taste Aversion to Deceive Predators" The Journal of Wildlife Management Vol. 54 Iss. 2 (1990) p. 360 - 365 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/michael-conover/317/