Prk. Richardson, THE FUNCTION OF SCENT MARKING IN TERRITORIES - A RESURRECTION OF THE INTIMIDATION HYPOTHESIS, Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa, 48, 1993, pp. 195-206
The role scent marks play in territory maintenance is considered speci
fically in terms of how they may achieve the goal of limiting intruder
s from exploiting defended resources. In large territories, where perm
anent monitoring is not possible, scent marks must be able to function
in the temporary absence of the residents. Scent mark density indirec
tly communicates to intruders the potential of being encountered by th
e owners, while the marks themselves intrinsically threaten intruders
with physical attack if they are encountered. Territory residents must
carry out this threat if intruders are encountered. otherwise there w
ill be no deterrent to intruders and territory maintenance will be red
undant. The response of intruders to scent marks will depend on their
motivation and the value of the resource to be exploited. Thus, althou
gh scent marks are unlikely to exclude totally intruders from exploiti
ng resources within a territory, they may limit the degree (time and s
pace) to which the territory is intruded and hence indirectly protect
its resources.