Seed preparation diminishes cache loss in least chipmunks

Abstract

Recent work with least chipmunks, Neotamias minimus, has identified a novel seed preparation process. N. minimus begins by hulling seeds and then creating a thick saliva-coated cluster that hardens once expelled. Scattered and undefended, these "bolus" caches are at risk for theft. However, the behaviors involved in the creation of a bolus may confer protection against such pilferage. In a series of laboratory experiments with sunflower seeds, we found that both the hulling and saliva-clumping processes significantly reduced pilfering of these caches by conspecifics and a competitor, Tamias striatus, under 3 cache depth conditions. © 2014 American Society of Mammalogists.