This week I was delayed in collecting my camera cards and so I had two weeks of data to analyse. Sadly on Otter cam, there were no otters sighted however the local vixen did frequent this spot beneath the willows. She spent over an hour sitting in one spot between the two main roots. This is a favourite spot for several of our mammals, a badger has spent time scratching here as has the female Otter. The clips of these two are at the bottom.
Having the Fox exhibiting a range of behaviours I had the opportunity to undertake a study of the behaviour and develop an ethogram. An ethogram is a tool used by behaviourists to record behaviours and the time spent undertaking that behaviour. The results can be seen in the table and pie chart below.
The analysis shows that despite the vixen being comfortable enough for it to rest here she still remains alert to sights and sounds. Sleeping does take place but these seem to be done in short spells with minimal movements that did not trigger the camera. She was quite fastidious, using the time awake to groom her fur across the whole of her body. There was much scratching made mostly by the right rear paw.
No comments:
Post a Comment