The Behavioral Responses of Mice to Olfactory Cues from Natural Oils Jennifer Thomas* and Bradley Rehnberg, Department of Biology, York College of Pennsylvania -Rodent pests can cause serious damage to both crops and homes and can pose a threat as a disease vector. - Most traditional methods of rodent control utilize poisons as a means of controlling the population. These poisons are often harmful to secondary organisms that come in contact with the product. - While many studies have been conducted using predator odors as a means of rodent repulsion, few have been done regarding the use of natural oils. - Siberian pine needle oil deterred feeding by prairie voles and deer mice though it was not deemed effective as a volatile cue (Wager-Page et al. 1997). This suggests that natural oils may be feasible as a safe method for rodent repulsion. - Most of the studies using natural oils focused on repulsion from food sources through gustation rather than olfaction. - Our study specifically focused on olfaction and whether volatile cues from natural oils could be used as a potential rodent repellent. -Determine if mouse behavior is impacted by exposure to volatile cues from natural oils. - Based on the behavioral responses, determine if the volatile cues may be feasible as a rodent repellent. -No significant differences between all trials for resting time and ambulatory time. Distance traveled, stereotypic time, bursts of stereotypic movement, and vertical breaks displayed significant differences for single oils between trials. -Significant difference between distance traveled for wintergreen oil (p-value=0.0003). -Significant difference between vertical breaks for peppermint (p-value=0.0333) and pine needle oil (p-value=0.0477). - Significant differences between stereotypic time for pine needle oil (p-value=0.0137) and citral oil (p-value=0.0005). - Significant differences between bursts of stereotypic movement for pine needle oil (p-value=0.0036) and citral oil (p-value<0.0001). -Significant differences between oil dish and empty dish touches for both fresh and evaporated oils in all 4 natural oils (Figures 1-4). Introduction Objectives Materials & Methods Results 15 Female CD-1 Mice Peppermint Oil Fresh & Evaporated Pine Needle Oil Fresh & Evaporated Citral Oil Fresh & Evaporated Wintergreen Oil Fresh & Evaporated Optovarimex 4 behavioral arena and software - 4 perforated petri dishes - 1 dish containing oil (1mL) - 3 empty dishes 5 minute trials Data Gathered - Distance traveled (cm) - Resting time (sec) - Stereotypic time (sec) - Ambulatory time (sec) - Bursts of Stereotypic Movement - Vertical Breaks - Oil Dish Touches - Empty Dish Touches Repeated Measures ANOVAs Unpaired t-tests Conclusions -Volatile cues from natural oils did not significantly impact the basic behaviors of mice. -Volatile cues did alter which petri dishes in the behavioral arena the mice were willing to touch. -Mice avoided touching petri dishes which contained both fresh oil and evaporated oil samples. -The volatile cues from the natural oils used in this study did repel mice from the petri dishes that contained oil and therefore may be feasible for use as safe rodent repellents. Literature Cited Wager-Page, S., Epple, G., and Russell Mason, J Variation in the avoidance of siberian pine needle oil by rodent and avian species. Journal of Wildlife Management 61(1): Acknowledgements Thank you to the York College Biology Faculty for their help and guidance during the research process. Future Studies - Conduct the research using different oil concentrations to see if a lower concentration would still prove to be an effective repellent. - Conduct the research in a field setting to determine if the volatile cues would still work as a rodent repellent outside of a controlled laboratory setting. - Conduct the research using male mice to ensure that gender does not impact the effectiveness of the volatile cues as a rodent repellent.