Blog; 3

The organism I am going to study is the large Eastern Grey Squirrel in areas of the View Royal Park. The Eastern Grey Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) is an invasive species from Eastern Canada which out-competes our native squirrels. They are better suited to the city environment than our native red and brown squirrels according to the BC SPCA, so their invasive ecological impact is not as critical in urban settings. I’ve noticed the distribution of squirrels around the park is not equal and they tend to be found in different parts at different times of the day.

The environmental gradient I will use is three locations along the park. The first location in the middle of the off-leash park where no squirrels have yet to be observed at any time of day; the second location is the trees surrounding the off-leash park where squirrels have been observed at certain times of day, and finally the third gradient location which is outside the off-leash area near the childrens play area, where the most squirrels have been observed at most times of day. At busy times in the off-leash area of the dog park, no squirrels have been observed. Even if the park is unusually quiet at that time of day. these times include 0600-0800 and again at 1530-dusk. The area of the park where off-leash dogs are prohibited, squirrels are observed at constant numbers at all times of the day.

Hypothesis: The distribution of squirrels throughout the park is influenced by the occurrence of off-leash dogs. as squirrels are prey animals and dogs are predators. The squirrels avoid the off-leash area of the park at times of day when dogs are more likely to appear.

Response variable- The squirrel distribution behaviour Explanatory variable- The occurrence of off-leash predators (dogs)These variables are categorical as they have a finite category to fall into. Whether the squirrels are or are not there and whether the dogs are likely or unlikely to be there based on the time of day