Grasshopper mouse's use of visual cues during a predatory attack.

This study examined the grasshopper mouse's use of visual cues to recognize a potential prey. The mouse's latency of attack was measured in response to models presented in five experiments. The mice responded to the contrast, movement and relative size of a visual stimulus, but did not respond to different orientations or shapes. Furthermore, the mice did not learn to recognize a particular prey by its shape or by a combination of visual cues. Essentially, the mice used vision primarily to detect and follow a potential prey rather than to recognize a particular species. The significance of the mouse's use of visual cues compared with olfactory and auditory cues was discussed.