Field enclosure experiments on the technique of poisoning the rabbit, Oryctolagus cuniculus (L.). IV. A study of shyness in wild rabbits subjected to '1080' poisoning

Abstract

Shyness to both bait and poison was developed in only a small proportion of wild rabbits subjected to experimental poisoning with sodium fluoroacetate ("1080"). The duration of this avoidance reaction did not exceed 3 weeks. The small proportion of the animals which developed shyness does not account for the gross failures experienced in the field when free-feeding was omitted; it is suggested that the survivors under these conditions are mainly animals which have failed to recognize the bait as a food material. The importance of adequate free-feeding before poison is added to the bait material is emphasized.