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 perfor

My study will try and prove that squirrels learn to live with humans and become comfortable functioning in their presence. It will attempt 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. I hypothesize that the gray squirrels that come in contact with humans more frequently have adapted to life with people and will more readily approach me than those which have not become accustomed to human interaction.

Follmer, David (1972) Food Preferences of Squirrels. Ecology: 81-82

The results of my study (see appendix I) were very different in each area. The p values for the high traffic area and the low traffic area showed that they were significantly different than the expected results, while the medium traffic area was not significantly different. The p value for the high traffic area was 0.03, the low area was 0.03 as well, and the medium area was 0.61. In a comparison of the three, the high traffic area was significantly from the expected results because five of the six squirrels came within ten feet of me. The low traffic area was different because none of the six squirrels came within ten feet and five of them showed no interest at all. In the medium traffic area the squirrels were distributed similar to the expected with two coming within ten feet, three within thirty and one showing no interest.

Smith, Christopher (1968) The Adaptive Nature of Social Organization In the

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. The high traffic area was significantly different from the expected results. Five of the squirrels came within ten feet of me. This shows that the squirrels are accustomed to contact with humans and are fairly fearless. This could be a learned behavior or it could be inherent in the species if many generations have lived with humans. The medium traffic area was not different than the expected results, but this also supports my hypothesis in that in areas of occasional contact, some squirrels were brave and some were wary of people. Even those squirrels that did approach me were not as comfortable as those that approached me in the high traffic area. In the low traffic area, the majority of squirrels did not show any interest. These squirrels rarely see humans and are instinctively hesitant to trust people. This further supports my hypothesis showing that squirrels are less brave w

Some common words found in the essay are:
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