The Rat Pheromone Site
Maze Behavior
The Y-maze is intended to identify compounds that are either attractive or aversive to rats. Two compounds are placed in both arms (A,B) of the maze, with a wire mesh preventing the rat from consuming the compounds. The rat is then placed in the distal arm (C) and allowed to explore the arms for 45 seconds. The times spent in each arm are recorded and attraction or aversion to the compounds is determined
Open Field Beahvior
The open field was developed to give the study a more "real-life" approach. The open field is approximately 8ftx8ftx3ft. It allows the rats to walk around in the open field and explore the 3 bait boxes that are placed in each 90 degree corners. Substances that have been determined to be attractive or aversive to the rats are placed within the bait boxes. They are allowed to explore the open field for 2 minutes and times are then recorded. Compounds are then considered to potentially be an ingredient in rodenticides.