Seasonal bait uptake by individual grey squirrels measured by PIT-tags and Rhodamine B

Oral contraceptives are being developed to manage the impacts of the grey
squirrel. To be effective, contraceptives will need to be deployed at a
landscape scale and will require a delivery system that is practical and
economically viable. Understanding grey squirrel feeding behaviour is
important so that delivery methods can be designed to ensure enough target
individuals receive an effective contraceptive dose at a time of year that
will ensure they will remain infertile throughout peak times of breeding.
The main aims of this study were to assess how sex, season, squirrel
density and bait point density influenced; 1) the probability of a
squirrel visiting a feeder and 2) the amount of bait consumed from
feeders. Field trials were conducted on six woodland populations of
squirrels in three seasons, with four days of bait deployment via
purpose-designed squirrel-specific bait hoppers with integrated PIT-tag
readers.