A data logging system using optical sensing techniques to determine foraging strategies of cottontail rabbits

Adaptive foraging decisions yield information on how animals view their environment. These decisions allow researchers to know how foragers rank habitats. We used a data logging system using infrared break-beam circuitry to evaluate these decisions. The data from this system revealed differences in behaviors between two species of cottontail rabbits in outdoor enclosures where obtaining food incurs predation costs (probability of mortality).