Flight Initation Distance
About the Module:
In this module, students examine the many factors that affect an animal's antipredator behavior. Here, students work in pairs to approach a squirrel (or other animal) and measure the distances at which the squirrel alerts to the approaching student and then flees. Students collect and record additional information about their specific study site and the approaching student. They can then consider how environmental factors (e.g., time of day, temperature, proximity to a tree or burrow), species characteristics (e.g., sociality, group size), or student characteristics (e.g., height, direction of gaze) might influence the squirrels’ antipredator behaviors. Students are provided a standardized protocol and methodology, but the rest of the activity can be 100% student-driven. Students can ask their own questions and test their own hypotheses with the nation-wide dataset. This is an exciting field-based activity for students! However, because the protocol requires students to approach an animal until it changes its behavior, some universities will require an approved protocol from their Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, while others provide exemptions. Squirrel-Net provides example protocols that you can modify for your own use.