A team of EWU researchers is quietly and carefully capturing and collaring campus squirrels for a study of this well-loved population of furry mammals.
The research conducted by Charlotte Milling, assistant professor and wildlife biologist, and her students will be added to the Squirrel-Net consortium, making Eastern’s beloved squirrels if not famous, at least a part of something larger than themselves.
Milling expects to train up to 24 students enrolled in an upper division and graduate-level mammalogy classes to investigate the behavior of live, collared eastern gray squirrels on the Cheney Campus. Students will learn the responsible use of mammals in scientific research, receiving training in institutional animal care and use, current best practice of mammal capture and restraint, marking, tissue (whisker) collection, and tracking via telemetry to ensure well-being, she says.
Since the university touts its squirrel population in recruitment pieces (with perhaps some ‘squirrely’ population numbers), has stuffed squirrels with mini Eastern logo scarves for sale at the Eagle store, and even has a fan-created Instagram account devoted to the beloved mammals, the study is very fitting, Milling says.
“The notoriety and affection students feel for these animals make them a compelling model system for teaching important lessons in mammalogy, responsible wildlife research, and the scientific method,” Milling says.
Additional project objectives include the following:
Students will investigate behavioral ecology of eastern gray squirrels by:
- Estimating the home range of gray squirrels on the EWU campus and comparing home range size to published estimates from elsewhere in the species range.
- Constructing ethograms across varying levels of human disturbance on campus (e.g., weekdays relative to weekends).
- Measuring flight initiation distance (FID) of squirrels across campus in relation to human-provisioning (i.e., trash cans) and human disturbance (i.e., foot traffic).
- Quantifying survival.
- Other approved behavioral queries.
The team will catalog data collected from EWU squirrels as part of the squirrel-net.org database, allowing students worldwide to test hypotheses about mammal ecology across large spatial scales. Milling will also share results with the campus when they become available.
