Gray Squirrel Behavior

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Gray Squirrel Behavior
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Objective

• To observe activity and foraging behavior of
  squirrels in a residential area vs a more natural
  setting
• To determine if behaviors differ at different
  times of day

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Procedure

• Documented two habitats to be observed
• My Back yard
• small part of Cherokee park
• Observation times
• morning
• afternoon
• evening

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Back Yard Observations

• Area had 2 Maple trees and 2 smaller unknown
  trees w/ grassy undergrowth
• 3 visible nests
• 2 types of food source
• Natural
• foliage, seeds, etc.
• Man made
• open garbage cans

• bird feeder
• 2 Squirrels present

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Activities

• Feeding
• usually done at the garbage cans or bird feedeer
• done in the yard if cans were empty
• two were never seen feeding together
• Chasing
• frequently chased eachother around yard
• Usually most active between 10am and 1pm.
• Hardly ever left the yard

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Activities contd.

• Decreased activity after 2 or 3pm
• Small increase in the early evening
• Virtually no activity at night

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Park Observations

• Habitat
• denser tree popoulation
• creek was close by
• Nests
• concentrated in trees closest to the water
• Activities
• same as those of the squirels in the back yard,
  except there was no chasing
• more steady throughout the day

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• Spent majority of active time feeding, foraging
  and burying food
• No a observed gressive or territorial behavior

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Conclusions

• Possibly due to the presence of a more abundant
  food source in the back yard
• park individuals had to spend more time foraging
  in order to get their fill

• Steadier rate of activity for park squirrels than
  those in the yard
• Plotted graphs of the of active time over a 12
  hour span for both habitats

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Back yard Graph
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Park Graph
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The End