Monitoring heart rate and body temperature in red foxes (Vulpes vulpes)

Abstract

KREEGER, T. J., MONSON, D., KUECHLE, V. B., SEAL, U. S., and Tester, J. R. 1989. Monitoring heart rate and body temperature in red foxes (Vulpes vulpes). Can. J. Zoo!. 67: 2455 -2458. Twenty-four captive-raised red foxes were surgically implanted with radios that transmitted both heart rate and body temperature. Successive fox pairs were placed in a 4.1-ha observation pen for 2 weeks and behavior was video recorded. The radio signal was recorded on the audio portion of the video tape for computer decoding. Heart rate and body temperature were measured for six behavior categories: sleeping, awake, hunting, feeding, running, and being chased. The heart rate for each of these categories was significantly different from any other (P = 0.000 1). All body temperature categories were different from each other except for running and being chased (P = 0.0001). Both heart rate and body temperature increased with level of activity. The only significant difference in heart rate and body temperature between sexes was for the sleeping heart rate category, where females had higher values than males (P = 0.04). There was also a significant time of day effect showing that body temperature while awake was highest at night (P = 0.0005). Sleeping foxes displayed a pronounced sinus arrhythmia which disappeared when they became active. KREEGER, T. J., MONSON, D., KUECHLE, V. B., SEAL, U. S., et Tester, J. R. 1989. Monitoring heart rate and body temperature in red foxes (Vulpes vulpes). Can. J. Zool. 67 : 2455 -2458. Vingt-quatre Renards roux ClevCs en captivitk ont Ct C opCrCs afin de les munir d'Cmetteurs radios permettant d'enregistrer leur rythme cardiaque et leur tempCrature interne. Des paires de ces renards ont CtC placCes successivement dans une enceinte d'observation de 4 , l ha pour 2 semaines et leur comportement a CtC enregistrC sur vidCo. Le rythme cardiaque et la temperature ont Ct C mesurCs en relation avec six categories de comportement : sornmeil, Cveil, chasse, alimentation, course et fuite.Le rythme respiratoire s'est avCrC particulier h chacune de ces catCgories (P = 0,0001). La tempCrature interne diffCrait aussi selon chacune des categories, mais elle Ctait la meme lors de la course et lors de la fuite (P = 0,0001). Les deux variables augmentaient en fonction de l'intensitk de l'activite. Le sexe n'entrainait qu'une seule diffkrence significative : le rythme cardiaque durant le sornmeil Ctait plus ClevC chez les femelles que chez les miiles (P = 0,04). Le moment de la journke avait aussi une influence significative qui se manifestait par une augmentation de la tempCrature du corps la nuit au cours de 1'Cveil (P = 0,0005). Durant le sommeil, les renards manifestaient une arhythmie sinusale prononcCe qui disparaissait au moment oh ils reprenaient leurs activitks.[Traduit par la revue] IntroductionMethods Heart rate (HR) and body temperature (BT) are dynamic physiological indices that can be used to assess relative energy costs as well as the internal milieu of an animal (Kimmich 1980). Monitoring such indices via ra...

Effects of simulated aircraft noise on heart rate and behavior of desert ungulates

“…The observational methods used in this study demonstrate that many behavioral responses of mountain sheep and desert mule deer to jet aircraft noise are subtle and differ with experience, age, and season (Jacobsen and Stuart 1978, Moen 1978, Kreeger et al 1989.…”

“…A radio frequency pulse was transmitted for each depolarization of the ventricles detected (Kreeger et al 1989), so that the biologist received a signal similar to a tracking signal (Pauley et al 1979) transmitted by radio collars.…”

Technological Tools

“…Researchers have used this tool extensively to monitor activity patterns, to determine home range size, and to measure physiological parameters (Amlaner andMacDonald 1980, White andGarrott 1990). Continual monitoring of activity patterns and physiological parameters is often possible in a controlled laboratory or enclosure setting (see Kreeger et al 1989, Canguilhem et al 1994, Cats et al 1995, Lefcourt and Adams 1996, Buuse and Malpas 1997). Some researchers have been able to rely on radiotelemetry to collect continuous data from free-ranging animals (Cooper andCharles-Dominique 1985, Scheibe et al 1998).…”

A pack of dogs is more effective at flushing red foxes to guns than a pair

“…Although some studies have been conducted on the hunting of red deer using dogs (Bateson and Bradshaw , Harris et al ), there have been few objective reports of the activity of hunting foxes using dogs. Although one study reported heart rate and temperature responses of captive foxes to being chased by dogs, these data likely have little direct relevance to the pursuit of wild foxes by foxhounds (Kreeger et al ); several other studies have commented on aspects of hunting foxes with dogs, although these have relied principally on responses to questionnaires (McDonald and Johnson , Heydon and Reynolds , Baker et al ) or indirect indices of fox numbers (Baker et al , Baker and Harris ). Although there has been reference made to the practice, as far as we are aware, there has been no prior detailed description of the activity of dogs used to flush foxes to guns (Burns et al , Heydon and Reynolds ).…”