Can Social Behaviour influence Food Preference of Wild Mice, Mus domesticus, in Confined Field Populations?

The role of social transmission in directing food preference was assessed in adult wild mice living in seminatural outdoor enclosures located in south-eastern Australia. We first examined whether mice recently fed one novel food and then released back into the enclosure (demonstrator mice) influenced the food preference of mice presented with a choice between that novel food and one other novel food. Then we examined the food preference of mice presented with a novel food and their staple food, after demonstrator mice were fed with the novel food and returned to the enclosure. The main results were as follows: (i) mice given a choice between two novel foods, in the presence of demonstrator mice, consumed significantly more of the novel food to which demonstrator mice had been exposed; and (ii) mice given a choice of one novel food and their staple food, in the presence of demonstrator mice that had been exposed to the novel food, ate similar amounts of the two foods. The adaptive value of different strategies of food selection is discussed.