Frequently Asked Questions
In early May 2019, we did a voluntary "test" of our observation survey and data submission process. The purpose of this test was to get our volunteers used to the format of the survey and the online data submissions as well as identify any areas of confusion with the survey or our instructions. We have posted the following list of common questions that we received so anyone that did not have the opportunity to participate in this test can also have the answer if they run into the same points of confusion.
- "How close of an address do we need to provide, if not including GPS points?"
For my analysis of the data collected by everyone, I will be using GPS coordinates. If you would prefer not to provide exact coordinates of your location, I will need a close address (or close set of coordinates) that you can provide so that I have a location that I can find coordinates of to use in analysis. Again, no locations will be disclosed outside of the project - "What if I can't start observations until later in the fall than the start date?"
If you want to observe squirrels in the fall but need to start later than our “official” start date (still TBD), that is perfectly fine! Any and all data is useful for this project - "How long do we watch a squirrel that is out of sight?"
Preferably, if you got less than 6-7 minutes of observations, you would start over with a different squirrel and report that new squirrel's behavior. If starting over is not any option for any time during the week, you can submit the data that you were able to collect. - "Are there certain times of day that squirrels are more active? Do weather conditions matter?"
Squirrels are crepuscular, which means they are typically most active at dawn and dusk. That being said, my experience (in Alabama) is that they tend to be active for most of the day except the very middle of the day around noon. Weather conditions also impact squirrel activity levels. Extreme cold or heat, high winds, and rain are usually known to deter squirrel activity and send them back to the drey to rest. If you have the opportunity of different habitats to look for squirrels, find an area with mature oak or hickory trees that may have nuts on the ground. Squirrels are very attracted to areas with a lot of food available, which is why a lot of you have a hard time keeping them out of your birdfeeders! - "I don't understand the instructions for tallying scatterhoarding behavior outside of the behaviors recorded every 20 seconds."
I will add an example to the website soon (with pictures or a video) to clear up any confusion with this.
Here's an example: Let's say you just recorded eating on the ground 1 minute and 20 seconds into the observation session (a G in the eating box at 1:20) and you then see the squirrel pick up an acorn and bury it, but by the time the timer goes off to record your 1:40 observation, the squirrel is back to eating an acorn it picked up off the ground. I don't want to miss out on knowing that squirrel engaged in scatterhoarding behavior. So when you saw the squirrel bury that acorn, you would put a tally in the "caching" box for 1:40 and when the timer goes off to record the eating behavior, you would put a G in the eating box for 1:40. At the end of your 10 minutes, you should have tallies in the caching, recovery recache, recovery eat, or recovery unknown boxes wherever you saw that squirrel engage in those behaviors between the intervals of recording T or G in a behavior box. You may also have T's or G's in those scatterhoarding boxes if that is the behavior you saw when the timer went off at a 20 second mark. - "Why is that squirrel rolling around in the dirt?"
We had a few reports of squirrels spending time rolling around in the dirt or potting soil. I have never seen this before! I would guess that these squirrels are taking “dirt baths” to keep insects from bothering them or maybe trying to cool off if it was a warm day. - "What is a drey (as referenced in the resting behavior category)?"
A drey is a large nest made of sticks and leaves that you see in trees. These nests are usually used for resting at night, in extreme weather, or for raising young. There are pictures here.