Abstract
We tested whether a new automated bait dispenser, the Scentinel®, could be programmed to deliver non-toxic bait selectively only to animals of specified dimensions (>400 g body weight and <110 mm body diameter, the size of a ferret or a mink). We tested whether wild ferrets would discriminate between two types of bait (egg/oil and homogenised brain tissue). We set 24 Scentinels in 12 randomised pairs for 11 weeks on a 2400-ha area of pastoral farmland in New Zealand. Of 1559 visits by small animals, 198 were by ferrets (c. 28 individuals). The Scentinels correctly delivered 895 baits to visitors weighing >400 g, and no baits to 543 visitors of <400 g. The mean body weight of live ferrets recorded by Scentinels was not significantly different from that of 34 carcasses collected from the same area by professional trappers. Of the 145 baits dispensed to ferrets, egg/oil bait was significantly more often eaten. We conclude that the Scentinel can reliably deliver bait to specified sizes of animals and deny it to others. It can also facilitate extensive bait preference tests on unrestrained wild pests.
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