Squirrel Behavior
As our population expands and cities grow and spread out into the country, the line between wilderness and civilization becomes thinner and thinner. The relationship between animals and humans becomes more and more strained, and the understanding of animal behavior in the presence of man becomes increasingly important. A great example of a species that has successfully adapted to life with humans is the gray squirrel. My study tried to prove that squirrels learn to live with humans and become comfortable functioning in their presence. It attempted to show that squirrels living in areas of high human traffic are braver in approaching humans than those that live in areas of low human traffic. My hypothesis was that the gray squirrels that come in contact with humans more frequently have adapted to life with people and would more readily approach me than those that have not become accustomed to human interaction. To test this hypothesis, I tested a squirrel's willingness to approach me at a location of high, medium, and low human traffic. I measured their approach in three levels: ten feet or less, thirty feet or less, and no interest. I then performed a Chi squared test to see if the locations were different from the
expected results. The high traffic area and the low traffic area were significantly different. Squirrels in the high traffic area were far more willing to approach a human than those in areas of low traffic. This data supported my hypothesis that the squirrels living in areas of high human traffic would be more willing to approach me than squirrels living in areas of low human traffic. More importantly this study also shows the squirrels ability to become accustomed to interaction with humans and adapt to that environment. As our population expands and cities grow and spread out into the country, the line between wilderness and civilization becomes thinner and thinner. The relationship between animals and humans becomes more and more strained, and the understanding of animal behavior in the presence of man becomes increasingly important. For many species, contact with humans is ultimately detrimental if not deadly. Still, some species are successful in adapting to life in urban and even inner city settings, and many even thrive. The instances in which man comes in contact with animals is are becoming common and the manner in which we deal with these situations is a delicate subject. Can man and beast live side by side? This can best be answered by studying animals that have learned to live within the realm of human infrastructure. They are the examples of how this relationship can work. For this to be a tolerable situation, the animal must be able to interact with people without the instance being harmful to either. The evaluation of the environments of a species with established social organization within that environment could help to explain the adaptive nature of all species (Smith 1968). A great example of a species that has successfully adapted to life with humans is the gray squirrel. It has become an accepted part of almost any community that people reside in, and can be found almost anywhere in the United States. There are many factors that help to account for the squirrels' successful adaptation to suburban and urban life. Genus of Three Squirrels. Ecological Monographs
Some common words found in the essay are:
, Bowling Green, Green University, Methods Materials, expected results, human traffic, Luckey Ohio, squirrels living, low traffic, ten feet, low human, traffic significantly, human contact, low human traffic, living human traffic, contact humans, living human, squirrels living human, Follmer David, Smith Christopher, Hazard Evan, Horwich Robert, traffic low traffic, traffic significantly expected, Squirrels Ecology,
Approximate Word count = 1710
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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