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RAT DEFENSIVE BEHAVIOR: BURYING NOXIOUS FOOD 1
Author(s) -
Wilkie Donald M.,
MacLennan A. John,
Pinel John P. J.
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
journal of the experimental analysis of behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.75
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1938-3711
pISSN - 0022-5002
DOI - 10.1901/jeab.1979.31-299
Subject(s) - saccharin , food science , feeding behavior , chemistry , lithium chloride , taste , food intake , zoology , toxicology , biology , endocrinology , organic chemistry
In Experiment 1, rats living in chambers containing bedding material were injected with a toxicosis‐producing dose of lithium chloride shortly after their initial taste of sweetened condensed milk. They consumed no additional milk and used the bedding to bury the spout through which the milk had been delivered, although they did not bury a concurrently available water spout. In another control condition, rats did not bury a spout containing a novel solution (saccharin) not paired with toxicosis. In Experiment 2, rats did not bury a milk spout until milk consumption was followed by toxicosis. In Experiment 3, rats buried a spout containing Tabasco pepper sauce but not a concurrently available water spout. Thus, burying the food source appears to be an integral component of the rat's defensive reaction to noxious food.