I’m not the only one who blogs about pee

Well, PredatorPee has popped up in the blogosphere, and I didn’t have anything to do with it. I would however like to thank Mike for his kind words and well-written blog. Like I always say, you don’t have to take my word for it. MIKE’S BACKYARD NURSERY.

On the homefront -the snow is melting. . .slowly. I have tapped some of the trees, and the sap is running. Soon I will be boiling it down until it turns into syrup for the grandkids’ pancakes. Looking for highs close to 50 on Friday. Might have to break out the shorts and t-shirt.

The PeeMan

Beaver Bedlam? We’ve Got A Pee for that.

Greetings from the frozen north woods! Came across some interesting research while I was warming myself by the wood stove. In this study, wolf urine showed itself to be an effective way to deter beavers. Don’t take my word for it – read their conclusions for yourself.(Italics mine)

Predator cues reduce American beaver use of foraging trails

WILLIAM J. SEVERUD, Northern Michigan University, Department of Biology, 1401 Presque Isle
Avenue, Marquette, MI 49855, USA wseverud@nmu.edu
JERROLD L. BELANT, Carnivore Ecology Laboratory, Forest and Wildlife Research Center, Mississippi
State University, Box 9690, Mississippi State, MS 39762, USA
JOHN G. BRUGGINK, Northern Michigan University, Department of Biology, 1401 Presque Isle
Avenue, Marquette, MI 49855, USA
STEVE K. WINDELS, 360 Highway 11 East, International Falls, MN 56649, USA

Discussion

We found a 95% reduction in beaver numbers at camera stations containing predator urine, indicating that beavers altered their space use in response to an indirect cue of predation risk. Beavers also spent 95% less time at urine-treated camera stations and exhibited no decrease in time spent at control camera stations. Decreased time spent at urine-treated camera stations suggests that antipredator behavior in beavers in our study area was strong, consistent with the risk allocation hypothesis (Lima and Bednekoff 1999). Decreased use and time spent at urine treated camera stations suggests that wolf urine is an effective deterrent to beaver activity and that beavers use olfaction to assess predation risk. In our study area, wolves have large territories and range extensively (Mech 1974); hence, beavers may experience only occasional temporal pulses of risk from wolves. These pulses of risk may be perceived by beavers regardless of actual predation events, which may be affected by available alternate wolf prey (Voigt et al. 1976). Although our study was short in duration, it represented a brief pulse of elevated predation risk. That beavers avoided camera stations containing wolf urine supports the tenet of the risk allocation hypothesis, which states that brief, infrequent pulses of high risk will elicit strong antipredator behaviors in prey species (Lima and Bednekoff 1999). Our data suggest that beavers either reduced total foraging activity or began using unmonitored or untreated trails. American and Eurasian beavers both have exhibited use of olfaction to assess risk by repressing scent-marking behavior (Rosell and Sanda 2006) and foraging (Engelhart and Müller-Schwarze 1995, Rosell and Czech 2000) in response to predator odors.

Well, I’d better go put another log on the fire. Have a good one! The PeeMan

The PeeMan is back and the Rodents are Scared Pee-less

It has been a long absence from the blogosphere for the PeeMan. I have been kind of busy chasing all those animals around to collect the pee. Never fear, for although we have been away from blogging, Predatorpee has been continuing to furnish customers all over the globe with the the best and original 100% Predator Urine. But, you don’t have to take only my word that this stuff works. Take a look at what the expersts have to say:

Chemical in Predator Pee Scares the Pee Out of Rodents

By Joseph Castro | June 23, 2011 10:54 pm

What’s the News: In the animal kingdom, prey species must follow one rule above all others: keep away from predators. To do this, some animals take chemical cues from the urine they stumble upon. Now, new researchpublished in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science has identified a single molecule in the urine of many mammalian carnivores that causes rodents to scurry in fear. This chemical could eventually help scientists understand instinctual behavior in animals.

How the Heck:

A research team at the Harvard Medical School analyzed a group ofolfactory receptors called trace amine-associated receptors (TAARs). They concentrated on one in particular, TAAR4, which is strongly activated by bobcat urine (sometimes used by gardeners to repel small pests). They found that one specific molecule, called 2-phenylethylamine, is responsible for the TAAR4 reaction.
To see if 2-phenylethylamine is bobcat specific, the team tested urine samples from 38 mammalian species, including servals, snow leopards, giraffes, zebras, and rodents. They found that the carnivores had the highest concentrations of the molecule, with some species, like lions and tigers, producing up to 3,000 times more 2-phenylethylamine than the herbivores.
As a way of checking the role of the molecule, the researchers placed a few drops of lion urine loaded with 2-phenylethylamine in a cage with mice and rats. The rodents avoided that area of the cage. The team then used urine free of the chemical, and found that the rodents had no aversion to it.

What’s the Context:

Scientists have long known that chemical cues can mediate predator-prey interactions, and not just in mammalian species. For example, some salamanders and tree frogs use these cues to detect predatory fish.
Sometimes these the cues aren’t enough. The parasitic diseasetaxoplasmosis can overcome rodents’ instinctual aversion to predatory urine. In some cases, the disease causes mice to actually seek out areas marked by cat urine. The mechanism is still a bit unclear, but scientists believe that taxoplasma does this by affecting dopamine levels in theamygdala.
The exact role of TAARs, first discovered 2001, is also unclear. But, “here we have the first convincing evidence that they might control instinctive behaviour,” Anna Menini, president-elect of the European Chemoreception Research Organization in Paris, told Nature.

The Future Holds:

The researchers are working to experimentally show that TAAR4 controls the rodents’ instinctive behavior. They are also trying to pinpoint brain circuits that TAAR4 activates as it responds to 2-phenylethylamine.
Future research needs to explain why carnivores have a higher concentration of the 2-phenylethylamine in their urine. The team suspects that it’s a by-product of meat digestion.

Invasion of the Feral Hogs

Q. We have an invasion of feral hogs in our subdivision and they are hitting our yards with vengence. We need (hopefully) some Mt. Lion pee to deter these bothersome hogs from our yard. I need to know what we should order. The granules or the liquid? The quicker the better. How long will this scent remain on the yard or in our flower beds?

A. Yes, since the mountain lion is a natural predator of the feral hog, mt. lion pee is the the correct choice. I would use the granules in the flower beds and the liquid to create a perimeter.

The Predator Urine concept is based upon the principal of duplicating the use of urine by animals in the wild. Predators mark the perimeter of their territory with urine helping prey like the feral hog tell whether an area is safe or dangerous. When using our ScentTags, place them into the ground every 10-12 feet around the designated area and saturate with the Mt. Lion Urine. Reapply every 7-10 days or immediately after rain. It is recommended that ScentTags be placed out of reach of sprinklers or irrigation systems. Each ScentTag will absorb about 1/2 oz of Pee, so you should get about 2 applications of 12 ScentTags (120-150 lineal feet) per 12oz bottle.

If you are using our 33 Day Dispensers, fill them to just below the holes with Mt. Lion Pee and hang every 10-12 feet from a tree or a free-standing stake. For feral hogs, be sure to place the Dispenser bottles at nose level. Refresh with urine once a month. Each dispenser hold about an ounce of Pee, so a 12oz bottle should be sufficient to fill 10 dispensers and protect 100 – 120 lineal foot perimeter for about a month. We do not recommend squirting the urine directly on plants or other living vegetation. Thanks for asking! The Peeman.

Words from the Peeman

This is the PeeMan, for the past 20 years or so I have been in the pee-business. Pee Business? Yes, that’s right. First started to supply hunters and trappers with the wild animal urine that they use to lure animals, it has evolved into something pee-mendous! Shortly after starting the business, we found that people were buying our pee who had absolutely no interest in hunting or trapping. They were buying our coyote urine and other varieties for everything from housebreaking their dog to keeping deer and other wild animals from feasting on their prize ornamentals. We found that the pee-market had a life of its own. When humor columnist Dave Barry included our bobcat pee in his top ten Christmas gift list, yet another market category emerged…the prank gift market is huge! People send PredatorPee to people they love and people they hate. They squirt the pungent liquid in places no wild animal has ever been! You can only imagine what uses a frat house could find for wolfpee. Now, of course, hunters and trappers make up only a tiny portion of our customer base. Regular folks with gardens, flowers, shrubs and backyards make up the most. Now on this day, July 14, 2008, PredatorPee enters the blog-o-sphere. Who would have thought?

In each new post, I will include some of the pee questions we get every day at predatorpee.com and our answers…like this one:

Dear PeeMan,

Coyote or Fox???

I live in Arizona where the problem is rabbits. We also have coyotes (not

enough it seems) that do prey on the rabbits, but no foxes, that I know

of. It seems logical that coyote urine would be the product of choice for me,

but your website suggests fox urine to repel rabbits. Which product would

you recommend in view of this situation?

Thank you in advance,

Charles

Dear Charlie,

Both the fox and coyote love to dine on rabbit and the rabbits know it!