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Common Voles and European Wood Mice Contacted Fox and Jackal Scat Most Often in Autumn and Winter

Red fox leaping toward a vole
Research: Disease, parasites & microbiology, Behaviour

Common voles (Microtus arvalis) and the European wood-mouse group were the rodents that most often approached and contacted red fox (Vulpes vulpes) and golden jackal (Canis aureus) scat, mainly during autumn and winter. The Hungarian field experiment examined how rodent behaviour could create transmission opportunities for the tapeworm Echinococcus multilocularis, and was first published online on 15 July 2026.

The parasite uses canids as definitive hosts and rodents as intermediate hosts. Its eggs leave infected canids in faeces, so the researchers placed fox and jackal scat beneath camera traps to investigate when small mammals approached or directly contacted this potential source of infection.

Six rodent taxa made contact with canid scat

The experiment ran in agricultural habitat in southwestern Hungary. Across 271 trap nights, the cameras recorded 600 events involving six rodent taxa. Common voles (Microtus arvalis) and European wood mice — a camera-trap grouping that included wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus) and yellow-necked mouse (Apodemus flavicollis) — approached and contacted the scat most frequently.

Activity around the bait was highest mainly in autumn and winter. This was the opposite of the researchers’ original expectation that rodents might contact canid faeces especially often during hot, dry summer conditions while searching for food or moisture.

Seed-rich scat attracted common voles

The common vole showed a clearly stronger preference for scat with a higher seed content. The authors connect this pattern to autumn food-hoarding behaviour, when rodents collect and store food for winter.

The authors suggest that autumn hoarding may shorten the period during which parasite eggs remain exposed in the environment before reaching a potential intermediate host. In midsummer, however, rodent activity and contact were low, so the camera footage did not support the original hypothesis that food- or moisture-seeking would substantially protect the parasite’s transmission cycle from summer drought.

The authors conclude that autumn hoarding by common voles may help maintain transmission opportunities, while summer remains a comparatively vulnerable environmental phase for the parasite. The experiment measured contact behaviour, not whether the observed rodents actually acquired infection. The work therefore adds animal behaviour to the ecological factors that can shape where and when transmission is most likely to occur.

Sources and image credit

  1. Winter is coming … How the hoarding behaviour of rodents fosters the persistence of Echinococcus multilocularisPrimary open-access research article available online 15 July 2026. Red fox and golden jackal scats were placed beneath camera traps in southwestern Hungary to study rodent contact with potential sources of Echinococcus multilocularis eggs. Across 271 trap nights, 600 events involving six rodent taxa were recorded. Common voles and European wood mice contacted the baits most often, mainly in autumn and winter. Common voles showed greater preference for scat with higher seed content. Contrary to the original hypothesis, the camera data did not support increased summer contact; the authors instead suggest autumn hoarding may foster transmission opportunities.

Image: Andrey Gulivanov — red fox (Vulpes vulpes) catching a vole in Tolyatti, Russia; Wikimedia Commons. Representative host–rodent image; not part of the Hungarian scat-contact experiment. · CC BY 2.0 · Source

About this content: This story was produced with AI assistance within an editorial workflow developed by Wildlife Vagabond. Editorial responsibility remains with Wildlife Vagabond.How AI is used

Disease, parasites & microbiology

SPECIES IN THIS STORY

Species in this story

Golden Jackal Canis aureus Explore species Red Fox Vulpes vulpes Explore species

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