Burying as a species-specific defensive reaction: Differential performance of rats, mice, guinea pigs, and hamsters

Previous investigations have shown that rats and some strains of mice, but not hamsters, selectively bury prods through which electric shocks are delivered. Rats also bury noxious foods, although this behavior has never been examined in other rodents. In the present study, albino rats and CF-1 mice gave some evidence of burying spouts filled with Tabasco sauce, an intrinsically aversive liquid, or sweetened condensed milk to which a taste aversion was conditioned. Such spouts were never buried by Syrian golden hamsters or by English short-haired guinea pigs. These results suggest that burying sources of aversive stimulation is a species-specific reaction not evident in all rodents.