Condition-dependent responses to risk in a small mammal

Animal responses to risky situations are shaped by both environmental (external) cues and internal states such as body condition. Recent meta-analyses indicate that individuals in better condition take fewer risks, consistent with the idea that they protect their assets. However, these results rely mostly on short-term, standard laboratory assessments of threat response. Consequently, it remains unclear whether variation in condition influences risk-taking consistently across different ecological contexts. Here, we address this by testing whether house mice from high- or standard-quality food environments, and mice of different weights (used as a proxy for condition), vary in their risk-taking behaviour across two scenarios. First, we quantified foraging behaviour in low- and high-risk areas in the absence of predation cues. We then introduced predator stimuli to assess how foraging changed under increased perceived threat. Overall, we aimed to determine whether the effect of risk on fo..., , # Data from: Condition-dependent responses to risk in a small mammal

Overview

This project investigated the short-term behavioral responses of wild house mice (*Mus musculus* domesticus) to predation risk and whether these responses were influenced by individual condition (e.g., body weight) or the quality of their developmental environment. Behavioral foraging data were collected from a semi-natural enclosure experiment under varying predation-risk treatments.

This repository includes the raw and processed data, metadata, and R scripts used to perform statistical analyses for the manuscript.

The study investigated how **wild house mice (*Mus musculus*** **domesticus)** adjust their foraging behaviour under **predation risk**, and whether these responses were influenced by **individual body condition (body mass)** or by the **quality of their developmental food environment**.

Behavioural data were collected from a **semi-natural enclosure experiment** under **control (no predator c..., ,