Behavior and Ethology Commons^™

Avoidance Of Cabbage Fields By Snow Geese, J. Russell Mason, Larry Clark

Larry Clark

now Goose activity levels were significantly less in cabbage fields than in control fields. Although the data do not unambiguously address the issue of sulfur repellency, we believe that the activity difference is consistent with avoidance of the former and not preference for the latter. Sulfurous volatiles were readily apparent to us during our visits to cabbage fields throughout the study period. Similar odors were not detected in control fields. If sulfurous volatiles were important, then avoidance could reflect some characteristic of the cover crop (e.g., unpalatability acquired through the absorption and translocation of degra­ dation products) or it could …