Avoidance of prey by captive coyotes punished with electric shock
[Article]
Linhart, Samuel B.; Roberts, Jerry D.; Shumake, Stephen A.; Johnson, Richard
Four individually penned coyotes (Canis latrans) that had learned to kill live domestic rabbits for food were presented with one black and one white rabbit during daily 1-hour sessions and punished by a brief, severe shock from a high-voltage collar each time they attacked the black rabbit. One coyote did not learn the color association; after three shocks, it refused to kill either rabbit for 10 days but killed both indiscriminately when retested 4 weeks later. The other three coyotes learned to avoid black rabbits after only three to five shocks and, when repeatedly retested without shock at several-week intervals, did not begin killing them again until 3 to 9 months later. These animals' rapid acquisition and long retention of an avoidance response to a certain class of prey suggests a potential for aversive stimuli to reduce coyote attacks on livestock.
1976
Proceedings of the Vertebrate Pest Conference
7
Linhart, Samuel B.; Roberts, Jerry D.; Shumake, Stephen A.; Johnson, Richard