The Behavioral Responses of Mice to Olfactory Cues from Natural Oils
Jennifer Thomas* and Bradley Rehnberg, Department of Biology, York College of Pennsylvania
Materials & Methods
15 Female CD-1 Mice
Peppermint Oil
Fresh & Evaporated
Pine Needle Oil
Fresh & Evaporated
Citral Oil
Fresh & Evaporated
Wintergreen Oil
Fresh & Evaporated
Introduction
5 minute trials
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Rodent pests can cause serious damage to both
crops and homes and can pose a threat as a
disease vector.
While many studies have been conducted using
predator odors as a means of rodent repulsion,
few have been done regarding the use of natural
oils.
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Siberian pine needle oil deterred feeding by
prairie voles and deer mice though it was not
deemed effective as a volatile cue (Wager-Page
et al. 1997). This suggests that natural oils may
be feasible as a safe method for rodent
repulsion.
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Most of the studies using natural oils focused on
repulsion from food sources through gustation
rather than olfaction.
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Our study specifically focused on olfaction and
whether volatile cues from natural oils could be
used as a potential rodent repellent.
Objectives
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- 4 perforated petri dishes
- 1 dish containing oil (1mL)
- 3 empty dishes
Most traditional methods of rodent control
utilize poisons as a means of controlling the
population. These poisons are often harmful to
secondary organisms that come in contact with
the product.
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Optovarimex 4 behavioral arena and software
Determine if mouse behavior is impacted by
exposure to volatile cues from natural oils.
Based on the behavioral responses, determine if
the volatile cues may be feasible as a rodent
repellent.
Data Gathered
- Distance traveled (cm)
- Resting time (sec)
- Stereotypic time (sec)
- Ambulatory time (sec)
- Bursts of Stereotypic Movement
- Vertical Breaks
- Oil Dish Touches
- Empty Dish Touches
Repeated Measures ANOVAs
Unpaired t-tests
Results
Conclusions
- No significant differences between all trials for
resting time and ambulatory time. Distance
traveled, stereotypic time, bursts of stereotypic
movement, and vertical breaks displayed
significant differences for single oils between
trials.
- Volatile cues from natural oils did not
significantly impact the basic behaviors of mice.
- Significant difference between distance traveled
for wintergreen oil (p-value=0.0003).
- Significant difference between vertical breaks for
peppermint (p-value=0.0333) and pine needle oil
(p-value=0.0477).
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Significant differences between stereotypic time
for pine needle oil (p-value=0.0137) and citral oil
(p-value=0.0005).
Significant differences between bursts of
stereotypic movement for pine needle oil
(p-value=0.0036) and citral oil (p-value<0.0001).
- Significant differences between oil dish and
empty dish touches for both fresh and
evaporated oils in all 4 natural oils (Figures 1-4).
Future Studies
- Volatile cues did alter which petri dishes in the
behavioral arena the mice were willing to touch.
- Mice avoided touching petri dishes
which contained both fresh oil and
evaporated oil samples.
- The volatile cues from the natural oils used in
this study did repel mice from the petri dishes
that contained oil and therefore may be feasible
for use as safe rodent repellents.
- Conduct the research using different oil
concentrations to see if a lower concentration
would still prove to be an effective repellent.
- Conduct the research in a field setting to
determine if the volatile cues would still work as a
rodent repellent outside of a controlled laboratory
setting.
- Conduct the research using male mice to ensure
that gender does not impact the effectiveness of
the volatile cues as a rodent repellent.
Literature Cited
Wager-Page, S., Epple, G., and Russell Mason, J. 1997. Variation in the avoidance of siberian pine needle oil by
rodent and avian species. Journal of Wildlife Management 61(1): 235-241.
Acknowledgements
Thank you to the York College Biology Faculty for their help and guidance during the research process.