Deceptive Caching

When food is plentiful, animals often collect and hide extra food to eat when it is scarce. However, other animals may try to steal this stored food, and eat it themselves. To protect their food supply, some animals engage in deceptive caching. Using this technique, animals deceive other animals into thinking that food is hidden in one place, while it is actually hidden somewhere else. Deceptive caching tricks animals that try to steal food, making it harder for them to find the food supply. If their attempts at stealing food are repeatedly unsuccessful, the animals often become discouraged and stop trying to steal hidden food.