Effect of predator odors on heart rate and metabolic rate of wapiti (Cervus elaphus canadensis) |
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Authors: | Denis Chabot Pierre Gagnon Elisabeth A Dixon |
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Affiliation: | (1) Department of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary, T2N 1N4 Calgary, Alberta, Canada;(2) Present address: Institut Maurice-Lamontagne, Ministère des Pêches et Océans, C.P. 1000, G5H 3Z4 Mont-Joli, Quebec, Canada;(3) Department of Chemistry, University of Calgary, T2N 1N4 Calgary, Alberta, Canada |
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Abstract: | We measured the heart rate (HR) and oxygen consumption (
) of wapiti (Cervus elaphus canadensis) before, during, and after presentation of biologically irrelevant odors (pentane, thiophene, and a perfume), artificial predator odors (an ether extract of cougar feces, and PDT, a compound found in mustelid anal gland secretion), stale predator odors (dog feces and urine and fox urine, kept at ambient temperature for a few weeks), and fresh predator odors (wolf, coyote, and cougar feces and the odor of a dead coyote, kept frozen between collection and test). Overall, responses to odors were small compared to other stressful stimuli. Individual variability was high among scents and among wapiti, but two of the fresh predator odors (cougar and wolf feces) produced larger HR and
responses than the other scents and were more often successful at producing responses. As a group, fresh predator odors produced larger tachycardias and elicited a larger number of significant HR responses than biologically irrelevant novel odors. although the two classes of odors did not differ in their effect on
. Although several other studies have shown that ungulates have reduced feeding levels when their food is scented with predator odors, it is not clear if this is due to reduced palatability or antipredator behavior. This study is the first demonstration that a wild ungulate species reacted more strongly to predator odors than to other odors in a nonfeeding situation. |
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Keywords: | Predator odor detection wapiti elk heart rate oxygen consumption metabolic rate Cervis elaphus canadensis |
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