The precociousness in UW’s resident
squirrels is an easily observable trait to any pedestrian who may come across
squirrels on campus. High traffic areas, provided they are not more than a few
dozen meters from grassy or otherwise vegetated regions, are frequented by
squirrels nearly as often as students. A common sight is that of a squirrel
climbing from a garbage can with a bit of leftovers in its mouth, or running
along a sidewalk with a stick or some other treat. Due to the common
interactions and close encounters between humans and squirrels, the UW
squirrels have developed an attitude of mixed precociousness and indifference towards
their human neighbors. Squirrels on campus respond very warmly to offerings of
food, and have even been known to eat bits of crackers out of the hands of individuals.
image credit http://chocolateandzucchini.com/archives/images/pola/ecureuil-pola.jpg
image credit http://chocolateandzucchini.com/archives/images/pola/ecureuil-pola.jpg
However, this kind of behavior is not
exhibited in all squirrels. A study performed by a group of students at another
university on the flightiness of eastern gray squirrels at the approach of humans
was conducted in 1999. Here is a link to the study, entitled “The
Impact of Humans on the Domestication of Squirrels”, which utilized a
methodology of slowly approaching squirrels and measuring the distance of
separation at which the squirrel finally fled, and duplicated the efforts for a
sample of campus squirrels and a sample of squirrels from the woods of a park
in the city. The study concluded that campus squirrels allowed people to
approach up to twice as close as the squirrels from the park, on average.
Written by Keenan
Written by Keenan
