The effect of a single light cue on homing behaviour of the golden hamster

Abstract

Golden hamsters, Mesocricetus auratus W., tend to return directly from a food source at the centre of an experimental arena to their peripheral nest. The subjects' choice of a particular homing direction was tested in conditions where the animals could use simultaneously a weak light spot from outside the arena and self-generated signals derived from the outward journey to the food source. Conflicts between different categories of directional information were induced by shifting once or repeatedly the light cue from its standard angular position with respect to the nest entrance. While the subjects depended primarily on the light spot as a stable directional cue during minor conflicts, their homing behaviour became less homogeneous and was mainly controlled by self-generated signals when the conflict was increased. The light spot exerted its influence mainly during the phase of food collection, just before the subjects started to return to their nest; however, its impact remained noticeable even when it was presented only briefly at the beginning of the hoarding excursion, i.e. well before the initiation of the return trip. The choice of a final return vector may therefore imply stepwise information processing, whereby stored and actual values of visual information are compared with cues generated during the preceding outward journey.