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A squirrel on top of the feeder on the shorter, less slippery pole.
Photo Credit Yavanna Burnham
Scientific Frontline: "At a Glance" Summary: Discounting Behavior in Wild Grey Squirrels
- Main Discovery: Wild grey squirrels are willing to expend additional time and physical effort to secure a higher-quality food reward, contradicting standard laboratory models that suggest animals consistently devalue rewards requiring extra exertion.
- Methodology: Researchers offered wild grey squirrels a preferred food source, almonds, and a less-preferred food, pumpkin seeds, placed on poles of varying heights to analyze the trade-off between energy expenditure and reward value in a natural environment.
- Key Data: The behavioral study tracked 11 wild grey squirrels, documenting more than 4,000 individual food selection choices during the preference trials to measure how reward distance affected preference.
- Significance: The results demonstrate that social hierarchy significantly influences natural decision-making, as less dominant squirrels favored easier-to-access, lower-quality food to minimize the risk of a rival stealing a hard-earned reward.
- Future Application: These findings provide a framework for refining behavioral ecology models and wildlife management strategies by incorporating social dynamics and natural environmental variables into animal decision-making paradigms.
- Branch of Science: Behavioral Ecology, Ethology, and Zoology.
- Additional Detail: The study, funded by the Natural Environment Research Council, highlights the critical necessity of studying animal behavior within wild populations rather than relying exclusively on captive laboratory environments.
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| A squirrel climbing the taller, more slippery pole. Photo Credit Yavanna Burnham |
Squirrels are usually willing to climb higher to reach their favorite foods, new research shows.
Extensive lab studies have found that animals “devalue” rewards that cost extra time and effort – for example, by choosing worse foods that are in easy reach.
But University of Exeter researchers suspected wild animals would behave differently.
They tested this by offering wild grey squirrels a preferred food (almond pieces) and a less-preferred food (pumpkin seeds), on poles of varying heights.
Even when almonds were raised higher off the ground – meaning a longer climb – squirrels’ preference for almonds only reduced slightly.
“The squirrels in our study were willing to work harder for better food,” said lead author Yavanna Burnham, from Exeter’s Centre for Research in Animal Behavior.
“This suggests that – in natural decision-making scenarios – it may sometimes be beneficial for animals to wait or work harder for a better outcome.
“This is what we would expect to find, and it shows the value of doing research on wild animal populations.”
The study also found that less dominant squirrels were more likely to choose easy-to-access food, potentially because they face a higher risk of losing the hard-to-reach reward if a rival appears.
A squirrel climbing the taller, more slippery pole. Credit Yavanna Burnham
Senior author Dr Lisa Leaver said: “This study helps us understand how animals decide how much time and effort to invest.
“It shows there isn’t always an ‘optimal’ decision, and – just as with humans – an animal’s social status affects the costs and benefits of choices.
“It’s rational for different squirrels to assess the situation and adjust the amount of time and energy they will expend accordingly, in order to get a reward.”
The study was carried out on the University of Exeter’s Streatham Campus, with food preference tests based on 11 squirrels, making more than 4,000 choices in total.
Funding: Natural Environment Research Council
Published in journal: Animal Behaviour
Title: Pole position: social influences on discounting behaviour in wild grey squirrels
Authors: Y.L. Burnham, A.D. Higginson, T.W. Fawcett, S.A. Rands, and L.A. Leaver
Source/Credit: University of Exeter | Alex Morrison
Reference Number: bs032726_01