We all have our own ways of avoiding things and people we don’t like, and gray foxes have come up with a rather clever one. In September of 2016, Maximillian L. Allen, Micaela S. Gunther, and Christopher C. Wilmers published their findings on gray foxes (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) and the foxes’ use of puma (Puma concolor) scent markings to cover up their smell from potential predators in an article in the Journal of Ethology. They began their research because they wondered why gray foxes (and occasionally other creatures, such as coyotes) tended to rub their cheeks on areas that pumas had previously marked with their scent (scent marking is a way for an animal to mark its territory or to attract a mate by the animal urinating, defecating, scratching, or rubbing itself on an object or area). The areas pumas have scent marked are known as “scrapes”.
Before beginning their research, they came up with two hypotheses. The first hypothesis was that gray foxes rub their cheeks on puma scrapes in order to give themselves a competitive edge against other gray foxes, or to help them attract a mate. The second hypothesis was that gray foxes use the puma scrapes to gain some of the puma scent and help the foxes confuse their predators.
Allen et. al. conducted their study by placing motion-detecting video cameras near frequented puma scrapes and watched and recorded data for four years. What they found was that gray foxes were more likely than other animals to rub themselves on puma scrapes, that they usually only did so if the puma scrape was relatively recent, and that foxes did not rub themselves on the scrapes at any particular season or time of year (meaning that it was likely not a behavior used for mating, as mating is seasonal for gray foxes).
The researchers believe that their research confirms their second hypothesis: that for gray foxes cheek rubbing on puma scrapes is an antipredatory behavior. It is possible that smelling like a top predator can confuse other predators from preying on the gray foxes long enough for them to escape. However, the article admits that more research should be done in order to have conclusive evidence that the purpose of the cheek rubbing is to deter and confuse predators.
References:
Allen, M., Gunther, M., & Wilmers, C. (2017). The scent of your enemy is my friend? The acquisition of large carnivore scent by a smaller carnivore. Journal Of Ethology, 35(1), 13. doi:10.1007/s10164-016-0492-6
Alice Van Derveer
October 9, 2017 — 7:23 pm
This is an interesting behavior. I’ve never heard of this but it makes a lot of sense. It sounds a lot like camouflage but for scent which is really cool!
Zoobia
October 15, 2017 — 8:52 pm
This is pretty neat! I wonder if this behavior is found in other similar species.