Drickamer L C, Springer L M
Department of Zoology, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL 62901, USA.
Behav Processes. 1998 May;43(2):171-81. doi: 10.1016/s0376-6357(98)00012-6.
Activity periods in small rodents are influenced by a variety of factors including climatic conditions, photoperiod, resource availability, and competitors. The timing of nocturnal activity was examined in free-living house mice inhabiting large outdoor enclosures. Live-traps were checked at 2-h intervals on specified nights. Mice were more active just after dusk and less active just before dawn. There was no significant differential timing of activity by age or sex. Dominant males were more active in the latter half of the night and subordinate males were more active in the first half of the night. Questions pertaining to the availability of traps, the proportion of mice still not captured, density effects on capture rates, and human activity influencing mouse activity were also tested. On average, more than 86% of the traps remained open even for the 2-h interval nearest dawn. A minimum of 70% of the trappable mice were not captured on a given trap night. The rate of mouse captures did not increase with increasing density. There was no difference in the overall mean number of mice caught on nights with and without interval trapping. However, capture rates were significantly lower in the period after a 2-h trapping interval than in the periods before or during that interval. Adult males and adult non-reproductive females were caught again sooner if they spent more time in the trap. There was no effect of the amount of time spent in the trap on the time to recapture for adult reproductive females or male or female juveniles.
小型啮齿动物的活动期受多种因素影响，包括气候条件、光周期、资源可用性和竞争者。在居住于大型户外围栏中的自由生活家鼠中，研究了夜间活动的时间安排。在特定夜晚每隔2小时检查一次活饵诱捕器。家鼠在黄昏刚过的时候活动更频繁，而在黎明前则活动较少。按年龄或性别划分，活动时间没有显著差异。占主导地位的雄性在夜间后半段更活跃，而从属雄性在前半段更活跃。还测试了与诱捕器可用性、仍未捕获的家鼠比例、密度对捕获率的影响以及影响家鼠活动的人类活动相关的问题。平均而言，即使在最接近黎明的2小时时间段内，超过86%的诱捕器仍然开放。在给定的诱捕夜晚，至少70%的可捕获家鼠未被捕获。家鼠的捕获率并未随着密度的增加而提高。在有间隔诱捕和无间隔诱捕的夜晚，捕获的家鼠总体平均数量没有差异。然而，在2小时诱捕间隔之后的时间段内，捕获率显著低于该间隔之前或期间的时间段。如果成年雄性和成年非繁殖雌性在家鼠诱捕器中停留的时间更长，它们会更快再次被捕获。在家鼠诱捕器中停留的时间长短对成年繁殖雌性或雄性或雌性幼崽再次被捕获的时间没有影响。
