Abstract
Finding achievable ways to reduce roads’ impacts on wildlife is a conservation priority. Road verges may be important refuges for small fauna, making them good hunting sites for predators. These make both prey and predators vulnerable to vehicle collisions. Thus, actions aiming to dissuade these animals from approaching roads are needed. Here we tested the effectiveness of ultrasonic devices to keep rodents away from the road verges. We hypothesised that exposing rodents to ultrasounds will cause them to stay away from the device and, consequently, from the road. We sampled rodents before and after the devices were switched on. Our results showed a reduction in animal activity after 10 days with the devices on. The next step is to analyse if this behaviour translates in a reduction of wildlife-vehicle collisions of rodents and their predators.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Aflitto N, DeGomez T (2014) Sonic pest repellents. Coll Agric Life Sci:1–4
Bomford M, O’Brien PH (1990) Sonic deterrents in animal damage control: a review of device tests and effectiveness. Wildl Soc Bull 18:411–422
D’Angelo G, van der Ree R (2015) Use of reflectors and auditory deterrents to prevent wildlife-vehicle collisions. Handbook of road ecology 1st edn. R van der Ree, DJ Smith, C Grilo (eds) pp 213–218
Fox S, Potts JM, Pemberton D, Crosswell D (2018) Roadkill mitigation: trialing virtual fence devices on the west coast of Tasmania. Aust Mammal 41(2):205–211
Georgiev GZ, Koev K, Stoyanov V, Petrov V (2018) Electronic rat-control devices-solution or scam? Results of field trials and a summary of the literary data. Arhiv Veterinarske Med 11:27–36
Greaves J, Rowe F (1969) Responses of confined rodent populations to an ultrasound generator. J Wildl Manag 33:409–417
Grilo C, Reto D, Filipe J et al (2014) Understanding the mechanisms behind road effects: linking occurrence with road mortality in owls. Anim Conserv 17:555–564
Le Gouar P, Schekkerman H, van der Jeugd H et al (2011) Long-term trends in survival of a declining population: the case of the little owl (Athene noctua) in the Netherlands. Oecologia 166:369–379
Maclean DK (1974) The effects of ultrasound on the behaviour of commensal rodents with a discussion of its potential in management and control programs. Dissertation, Simon Fraser University
Martinig AR, McLaren AAD (2019) Vegetated highway medians as foraging habitat for small mammals. Wildl Soc Bull 43:317–322
Pinto-Correia T, Ribeiro N, Sá-Sousa P (2011) Introducing the montado, the cork and holm oak agroforestry system of Southern Portugal. Agrofor Syst 82:99–104
Portfors CV (2007) Types and functions of ultrasonic vocalizations in laboratory rats and mice. J Am Ass Lab Anim Sci 46:28–34
R Core Team (2018) R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. URL https://www.R-project.org/
Ruiz-Capillas P, Mata C, Malo JE (2013) Road verges are refuges for small mammal populations in extensively managed Mediterranean landscapes. Biol Conserv 158:223–229
Sabino-Marques H, Mira A (2011) Living on the verge: are roads a more suitable refuge for small mammals than streams in Mediterranean pastureland? Ecol Res 26:277–287
Santos SM, Carvalho F, Mira A (2011) How long do the dead survive on the road? Carcass persistence probability and implications for road-kill monitoring surveys. PLoS One 6(9)
Santos SM, Marques JT, Lourenço A et al (2015) Sampling effects on the identification of roadkill hotspots: implications for survey design. J Environ Manag 162:87–95
Shumake SA (1997) Electronic rodent repellent devices: a review of efficacy test protocols and regulatory actions. In: Mason JR (ed) Repellents in Wildlife Management, pp 253–270
Sprock CM, Howard WE, Jacob FC (1967) Sound as a deterrent to rats and mice. J Wildl Manag 31:729–741
Valitzski SA, D’Angelo GJ, Gallagher GR et al (2009) Deer responses to sounds from a vehicle-mounted sound-production system. Manag Conserv Note 73(7):1072–1076
Acknowledgements
We thank colleagues T Pinto, LG Sousa, N Fernandes, E Ferreira, R Raimundo and P Lourenço. This work was funded by LIFE LINES LIFE14 NAT/PT/001081. NS is supported by a CEEC contract (CEECIND/02213/2017) from Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia. DSG and HR were supported by research grants by LIFE LINES.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Ethical approval
All applicable international, national, and/or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed.
Additional information
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
This article is part of the Topical Collection on Road Ecology
Guest Editor: Marcello D’Amico
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sousa-Guedes, D., Ribeiro, H., Vaz-Freire, M.T. et al. Ultrasonic device effectiveness in keeping rodents off the road. Eur J Wildl Res 66, 23 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-020-1361-8
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-020-1361-8