Food-hoarding behaviour of David's rock squirrel Sciurotamias davidianus(In English)

摘要

Food storage is an important adaptation of some animal species to the temporal variation or unpredictable food supplies. David’s rock squirrel Sciurotamias davidianus occurs in mountainous and hilly areas of north China . Food-hoarding behaviour of this species was unknown. We set up four semi-natural enclosures in the Donglingshan Mountain area near Beijing , and investigate the hoarding strategy of 12 David’s rock squirrels and their response to perceived pilferage on seeds of walnuts Juglans regia and wild apricot Prunus armeniaca . The results show that: 1) David’s rock squirrels hoarded food items in both larder and scatter patterns but more items were scatter hoarded; 2) w hen confronted by perceived pilferage on hoarded food, David’s rock squirrels increased both larder hoarding and scattered hoarding; 3) n one of the seeds of wild apricot and walnut were eaten at the feeder. David’s rock squirrels consumed more seeds of wild apricot than that of walnuts outside nest boxes; 4) David’s rock squirrels only scatter hoarded walnuts; and 5) Seeds of walnuts were transported greater distances than that of wild apricot. The result suggests that David’s rock squirrels might play different roles in natural regeneration of walnuts and wild apricots [ A cta Zoologica Sinica 51(3): 376 –382, 2005] .