Behavioral responses of predator-naïve dwarf hamsters (Phodopus campbelli) to odor cues of the European ferret fed with different prey species

Abstract

Many mammalian predators are able to identify their prey by odors and, vice versa, numerous prey species recognize predator odors as well. The present paper reports on the behavioral responses of predator-naïve dwarf hamsters (Phodopus campbelli) towards the urine odors of carnivorous ferrets, which were raised on either a chicken, mouse or hamster diet. Chemical composition from ferret urines of the different diet groups was analyzed, while quantitative differences in urinary volatile constituents were observed through capillary gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. In a Y-maze arrangement, hamsters were offered several two-choice odor discrimination tasks and their behavior was quantified. Hamsters were easily able to discriminate the urine odor of ferrets fed with mice against ferrets fed with hamsters. This is probably the first report indicating that a prey species can distinguish urine odors of even an unknown predator species that has been fed different prey species. The analytical data complemented behavioral assays.