Seasonally variable effects of conspecific odors upon capture of deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus gambelii)

Traps were set in triplets of one male-scented (M), one female-scented (F), and one neutral (N) trap. Bedding from laboratory-caged, adult deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus gambelii) was the source of M and F odors. In winter, outside the breeding season, deer mice, pocket mice, and kangaroo rats all avoided deer mouse odors and preferentially entered N traps. In spring, when breeding had commenced, deer mice preferentially entered scented …