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I found making a bar graph worked well to show how conifer cone totals varied with distance from the red squirrel midden. While I followed the scholarly article’s field study protocol, I immediately noticed a difference in the harvest distances of the cones by an urban red squirrel compared to a wild red squirrel. The article focused on a 20 meter radius because it was shown that a wild red squirrel harvests 79% of the cones for the winter midden within a 20 meter radius of its midden, while the urban red squirrel used a distance of 38 meters for cone harvesting, almost double that in the wild. The bar graph cone totals at 38 meters matched cone totals reported in Struebel’s Alaska study at 20 meters. I found using a bar graph did well in illuminating the cone total’s similarity to the Alaska study cone totals. The bar graph also placed emphasis on the unique spatial relationships of planted conifer trees found on urban property. Urban properties are unique habitats for rodentia and offer unique city and park planning schemata for horticulturalists. The graph was simple to create but what was difficult was staying focused on one aspect of the field study when so many more intriguing avenues availed themselves.
