Foraging by rats: Intuitions, models, data.

Rats R. norvegicus were trained to press levers to accumulate food at distant sites. The size of the hoard increased with the distance to the site, but did not vary when the rats had to run uphill or downhill to get it. Persistence in a patch depended on the richness of the alternative patch. Optimality models were developed and modified in light of these data.