ORIGINAL PAPER Cache and carry: hoarding behavior of arctic fox

• Main Authors: Vincent Careau, Jean-françois Giroux, Dominique Berteaux, V. Careau, J. -f. Giroux, D. Berteaux
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Arctic; Alopex lagopus; Arctic Fox
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.423.3871; http://faculty.ucr.edu/~vcareau/Papiers/4Careau_et_al_2007 BES Cash and Carry.pdf

Abstract Food-hoarding animals are expected to preferentially cache items with lower perishability and/or higher consumption time. We observed arctic foxes (Alopex lagopus) foraging in a greater snow goose (Anser caerulescens atlanticus) colony where the main prey of foxes consisted of goose eggs, goslings, and lemmings (Lemmus and Dicrostonyx spp.). We recorded the number of prey consumed and cached and the time that foxes invested in these activities. Foxes took more time to consume a goose egg than a lemming or gosling but cached a greater proportion of eggs than the other prey type. This may be caused by the eggshell, which presumably decreases the perishability and/or pilfering risk of cached eggs, but also increases egg consumption time. Arctic foxes usually Communicated by E. Korpimäki