Experimentally assessing coyote behavior at cougar cache sites

This resource contains the data and code for the manuscript \"Coyotes display minimal response to Cougar scent at experimental carcass sites\" prepared by Mitchell Parsons and Julie Young and published in the Journal of Mammalogy. This manuscript investigating behavior of coyotes scavenging at simulated cougar cache sites. We deployed road killed deer as simulated cougar kills and treated half of sites with cougar scent. We observed coyote behavior using remote cameras. We then analyzed data to understand whether coyote behavior (e.g. time to discovery, time to touch, time spent vigilant), varied based on the addition of cougar scent or other environmental factors. This resource contains two .csv datafiles and one .R code file. With these files, all analyses and visuals presented in the manuscript (except for figure 1) can be recreated. Publication Abstract Interactions among predators can have cascading impacts on communities and ecosystems. These interactions often occur around carrion, where the carrion provides a food reward, but also a risk of encountering other, potentially dominant, predators. Understanding how predators balance risk and reward at carrion, and how perceived risk changes in response to carcass origins and conditions, provides valuable insight into intraguild interactions. We investigated Coyote (Canis latrans) behavior at carrion simulated as cache sites treated with Cougar (Puma concolor) scent versus carrion used as control sites to better understand how Coyotes assess risk while feeding on carrion. Coyotes displayed similar behavior between sites treated and untreated with Cougar scent, suggesting that the presence of Cougar scent did not alter perceived risk by coyotes in our study. Instead, coyote behavior responded to carcass age, elevation, and whether avian scavengers had visited the carcass. Coyotes spent more time feeding, more time on camera, and touched carcasses quicker as carcass age increased. Avian scavengers appeared to compete with Coyotes, and while the presence of avian scavengers reduced time to carcass detection by Coyotes, it also decreased time spent feeding. These results suggest that carcass condition is a more important indicator of risk and reward than the presence of dominant predator scent to Coyotes. Predator scent may be an unreliable cue of immediate predator presence. Alternatively, all carcasses may be risky because dominant predators also scavenge carrion, creating similar risk regardless of previous visitation by dominant predators. These results provide insights into predator interactions and can also inform the use of scent cues in wildlife management.本资源包含由Mitchell Parsons与Julie Young撰写、发表于《哺乳动物学杂志》（Journal of Mammalogy）的论文《实验腐尸位点中郊狼对美洲狮气味反应极弱》的配套数据与代码。该论文聚焦于郊狼在模拟美洲狮储藏位点的食腐行为研究：我们以道路致死的鹿作为模拟美洲狮猎物尸体，并为半数实验位点施加美洲狮气味；通过远程相机监测郊狼的行为活动，随后对采集到的数据开展分析，以明确郊狼的各项行为指标（如发现腐尸耗时、接触腐尸耗时、警戒时长）是否因美洲狮气味的添加或其他环境因素而产生差异。本资源包含两个逗号分隔值（CSV）数据文件与一个R语言代码文件，借助上述文件，可复现该论文中除图1之外的所有分析结果与可视化图表。 论文摘要 捕食者之间的相互作用可对群落与生态系统产生级联效应。这类相互作用通常发生于腐尸周围：腐尸既能为捕食者提供食物收益，也会使其面临遭遇其他潜在优势捕食者的风险。探明捕食者如何在腐尸处权衡风险与收益，以及其感知到的风险如何随腐尸来源与状态发生变化，可为同营养级捕食者间的相互作用研究提供重要参考。为深入理解郊狼（Canis latrans）在腐尸取食过程中的风险评估行为，我们设置了两组实验：一组为施加美洲狮（Puma concolor）气味的模拟储藏位点腐尸，另一组为未施加气味的对照组腐尸，以此探究郊狼的相关行为。本研究中，施加与未施加美洲狮气味的实验位点处，郊狼的行为并无显著差异，表明美洲狮气味的存在并未改变郊狼的风险感知。相反，郊狼的行为变化主要受腐尸腐坏时长、海拔高度以及是否有鸟类食腐者到访的影响。随着腐坏时长增加，郊狼的取食时长、相机监测时长均更长，接触腐尸的速度也更快。鸟类食腐者似乎会与郊狼产生种间竞争：尽管鸟类食腐者的存在缩短了郊狼发现腐尸的耗时，但同时也减少了郊狼的取食时长。上述结果表明，相较于优势捕食者气味的存在，腐尸状态对郊狼而言是更为重要的风险与收益指示因子。捕食者气味或许并非判断当前是否存在捕食者的可靠线索。另一方面，所有腐尸均可能存在风险，因为优势捕食者同样会食腐，即便此前无优势捕食者到访，也会产生相似的风险水平。本研究结果不仅增进了我们对捕食者相互作用的理解，也可为野生动物管理中气味线索的应用提供参考依据。