The Central Park Squirrels

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The Central Park Squirrels
A Day In The Life
By
Arfarliar Harris
Stephanie Matthews
Jason Miller
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Objectives

• Purpose
• Methods
• General Observations
• Data/Results
• Conclusion

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Purpose

• To prove squirrels prefer dense tree areas.
• To prove squirrel activity corresponds to time
  of day.
• To prove the number of nests found in a
  particular area corresponds to the number of
  squirrels found in that area.

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Methods

• Walked around the park every hour counting the
  population and distributing nuts to our little
  friends.
• Observed their behavior.
• After the leaves fell, counted their nests.

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General Facts Observations

• Activity peaks in the early morning and again in
  the late afternoon or early evening.
• Carry nuts in their jaws bury them in various
  locations (rely on sense of olfaction memory).
• Home range sizes are negatively correlated with
  food supply population density.
• Size of population is usually proportional to the
  food supply.

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Nests

• 3 Types
• Summer Dreys
• Winter Dreys
• Dens
• Dreys built in upper 1/3 of canopy.
• Waterproof
• 25-45cm in diameter
• Dens are holes in the main trunk of trees.
• Formation requires 8-30yrs.

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of Squirrels Vs. Time
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Squirrel Density Vs. Time
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Tree Density of Central Park

• I. No Trees
• II. Few Trees
• III IV. Many Trees

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of Squirrels Vs. Tree Density
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of Nests Vs. Tree Density
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Trees of Central Park

• Maple
• Holly
• Crabapple
• Magnolia
• Pine

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Conclusions

• Based on our analysis, squirrels do prefer dense
  treed areas.
• A relationship between squirrel activity and time
  of day does exist.
• There is a definite correlation between the
  number of nests and the number of squirrels found
  in the two treatment areas.

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THE END!