Hoarding (animal behavior)

Hoarding or caching in animal behavior is when animals store food in hidden places, keeping it safe from other animals of the same kind or from different species. This behavior helps animals save food when it is plentiful to eat later when food is scarce. Some animals even cache food to let it ripen, which means they store it to improve its taste or quality over time.

The term hoarding is usually used for rodents like hamsters and squirrels, while caching is more often used for birds such as rooks and woodpeckers. One famous example is the western scrub jay, known for its amazing ability to remember where it hides its food. Animals cache food either for the long term, saving it for months, or for the short term, planning to eat it within a few days.

There are two main types of caching. Larder hoarding means creating a few big storage spots that the animal often protects. Scatter hoarding means making many small hiding places, with each piece of food stored in a different spot. Both ways of caching offer special benefits to the animals that use them.

Function

Caching behavior helps animals save extra food for later. Animals hide food when it is plentiful so they can eat it when food is scarce, especially during tough seasons like winter. This is a common way for animals to survive when food becomes hard to find.

Some animals also use caching to let food ripen. For example, tayras hide green plantains to eat once they are ripe, and leafcutter ants store leaves to grow fungus, which they then eat. This method helps provide food that would not be edible right away.

Hoard distribution and size

Scatter hoarding is when animals like birds and small mammals create many small hiding spots for their food. This helps spread seeds, allowing plants to grow in new places. These animals need good memory to remember where they hid their food.

Larder hoarding is when animals, such as hamsters, store all their food in one big place near their home. This makes it easier to remember where the food is, but if another animal finds it, it can be a big problem for the hoarder.

Related behaviors

Animals often guard their food caches carefully, keeping them secret from others. For example, some birds hide their food in hidden spots, while others, like shrikes, store prey in open areas such as on thorns.

Most animals hoard food alone, but a few species share. Beavers, for example, build winter stores of branches for their family groups, and acorn woodpeckers create communal food stores. Wolves, foxes, and coyotes use scent-marking to remember where they’ve hidden food.

Sometimes, animals take food from another’s cache, a behavior called pilfering. Some species, like rodents and chickadees, both hoard and pilfer food, meaning they might take from others and later have their own food taken. Animals also move food to new hiding spots if they suspect another animal has seen their cache. Common ravens and Eurasian jays show clever strategies to protect their food, such as hiding it behind objects or changing their hiding spots when others are watching.