A visual lure for small mammals- do Australian species use running wheels in the wild?

Theme: Zoology and wildlife biology

Description: 

Worldwide only two studies have been published on how wild animals are attracted to and use running wheels in nature, in the Netherlands and Paraguay (Meijer & Robbers 2014 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2014.0210 and Van Lunteren et al. 2021 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10211-020-00359-2). Small mammals were surprisingly enthusiastic in two environments in the Netherlands, but rarely used wheels in Paraguay. It was suggested that the lower interest in running wheels by wildlife in South America was because of the different taxonomic groups of rodents there, or the more remote environment. Running wheels in the wild have never been tested in Australia. There are reasons to suspect that wild Australian small mammals would respond to a wheel lure: Australian rodents are murids (like the Netherlands) and experience shows that dasyurids including antechinus and dunnarts very readily use wheels when temporarily in captivity. To attract small mammals to camera traps, running wheels would have advantages over scent lures such as peanut butter: the visual lure of a wheel does not degrade over time, whereas the strength of scent inevitably declines; food lures can attract larger non-target species that would could not use a mouse-sized running wheel, such as feral foxes; and a mammal using a running wheel can be positioned so that identifying features are visible to the camera and in focus. This project would test if running wheels are effective as lures for small mammals in Australia, if wheels and traditional peanut butter bait differ from unbaited cameras in effectiveness, and if these effects depend on habitat type and remoteness.

Additonal Information

This project will include sites at UQ Hidden Vale Research Station and QUT SERF field station at Samford, as well as opportunities for remote sites in rural Queensland.

Contact: Assoc Prof Diana Fisher