caa a22 4500 465762409 CHVBK 20180323111903.0 cr unu---uuuuu 170327e19901201xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/BF02350279 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/BF02350279 Development of survival skills in captive-raised Siberian polecats ( Mustela eversmanni ) I: Locating prey [Elektronische Daten] [Brian Miller, Dean Biggins, Chris Wemmer, Roger Powell, Lou Hanebury, Deborah Horn, Astrid Vargas] Captive-raised mustelids appear to have a rudimentary capacity to kill prey, but the skills necessary for locating prey may be eroded during captivity. We tested the maturational component of prey-searching behavior with captive-raised Siberian polecats (Mustela eversmanni) by subjecting polecats to a simulated prairie dog colony of 6 burrows within a 200 m2 arena. Ten naive Siberian polecats at ages 2.5, 3.5, and 4.5 months (30 total) were deprived of food for 12 hours. A dead prairie dog was placed in 1 prairie dog burrow and the other 5 were empty. A single Siberian polecat was released onto the colony shortly before sunset and its movements monitored from an observation tower. Older Siberian polecats located prey significantly quicker than younger polecats, but all age groups spent a great deal of time in surface activity not directed toward a burrow. When Siberian polecats were about 10 months old, all burrows in the arena were plugged with dirt including the burrow with the prairie dog. In this winter test, Siberian polecats located the prey but still spent a great deal of time in non-burrow directed surface activity. Economical use of surface time, with a low amount of non-burrow directed behavior, would presumably reduce the risk of predation for hunting polecats. Japan Ethological Society, 1990 Miller Brian Conservation and Research Center of the National Zoological Park, Smithsonian Institution, 22630, Front Royal, VA aut Biggins Dean U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Ecology Research Center, 4512 McMurray, 80525-3400, Fort Collins, CO aut Wemmer Chris Conservation and Research Center of the National Zoological Park, Smithsonian Institution, 22630, Front Royal, VA aut Powell Roger Department of Zoology, North Carolina State University, 27695-7617, Raleigh, NC aut Hanebury Lou U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Ecology Research Center, 4512 McMurray, 80525-3400, Fort Collins, CO aut Horn Deborah Conservation and Research Center of the National Zoological Park, Smithsonian Institution, 22630, Front Royal, VA aut Vargas Astrid U.S. Fish and Wildlife Cooperative Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Box 3166, University Station, 82071, Laramie, WY aut Journal of Ethology Springer-Verlag 8/2(1990-12-01), 89-94 0289-0771 8:2<89 1990 8 10164 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02350279 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02350279 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Miller Brian Conservation and Research Center of the National Zoological Park, Smithsonian Institution, 22630, Front Royal, VA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Biggins Dean U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Ecology Research Center, 4512 McMurray, 80525-3400, Fort Collins, CO aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Wemmer Chris Conservation and Research Center of the National Zoological Park, Smithsonian Institution, 22630, Front Royal, VA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Powell Roger Department of Zoology, North Carolina State University, 27695-7617, Raleigh, NC aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Hanebury Lou U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Ecology Research Center, 4512 McMurray, 80525-3400, Fort Collins, CO aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Horn Deborah Conservation and Research Center of the National Zoological Park, Smithsonian Institution, 22630, Front Royal, VA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Vargas Astrid U.S. Fish and Wildlife Cooperative Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Box 3166, University Station, 82071, Laramie, WY aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Journal of Ethology Springer-Verlag 8/2(1990-12-01), 89-94 0289-0771 8:2<89 1990 8 10164 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence SWISSBIB 465762344 BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer