LAUSR

Abstract Consistent with boredom, prior work has found that mink raised in non-enriched (NE) or enriched (E) conditions differ in their motivations to seek stimulation: NE mink spent more time oriented towards and in contact with diverse stimuli presented to them (ranging from rewarding to aversive), and in one study, NE mink showed shorter latencies to contact these stimuli and consumed more treats (Meagher and Mason, 2012; Meagher et al., 2017). Here, in Study A, we used a new population of young adult males (n = 30) to test the hypothesis that this reflects boredom-like states rather than long-lasting traits, being rapidly reversed by access to more stimulating environments. Minks’ exploration of stimuli was tested after seven months in minimally enriched control cages (containing a wiffle ball and shelf), and re-tested a median of six days after half the mink were moved to larger cages that were enriched with rewarding items. Although latencies to contact stimuli (F1, 27.42 = 0.23, p = 0.32) and proportion of treats consumed (F1, 27.45 = 0.44, p = 0.26) were not reduced by access to enriched housing, contact durations were (F 1,29.11 = 14.23, p =