Abstract
Kleptoparasitism, a tendency of individuals to steal resources from other animals, may reduce many of the costs associated with traditional foraging. We measured the frequency of kleptoparasitism of caches (haypiles) in three North American populations of pikas ( Ochotona princeps ). Kleptoparasitism was not expressed in some populations and was of variable frequency in others. Both genders engaged equally in the behavior, and all animals stole from nearest neighbors, who were usually of the opposite sex. To compare the frequency of robbing from protected versus unprotected caches, we created haypiles in unoccupied territories in the talus. Pikas robbed frequently from these caches. Cache defense may be the primary deterrent of kleptoparasites, but other factors such as nepotism may explain the low frequency of the behavior.
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