Habituation

Most animals and people in fact learn via habituation or perhaps more accurately are trained by habituation. Scientifically habituation is the diminishing of an innate response to a frequently repeated stimulus. Think of it a little like the saying 'familiarity breeds contempt' or rather in this case familiarity makes the response more comfortable. In human psychology habituation is fundamental to cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), something I am accustomed, habituated to you might say. When tackling my anxiety over travel my CBT had me taking weekly train journeys in incrementally larger distances until travel by train was normal.

 Habituation has been used throughout human history to domesticate animals and it is something I have used send times over the years in my wildlife watching. When I first started regular patchwork back in 2001 my local swans were ZNY and VGY, over the space of many years I got to know this pair very well, and importantly they me. I saw them every week and each week I would have some bread or seed to feed them. Out of habit, I would make a whistle when I fed them and they soon associated that sound with me and food, pretty soon I did not need to whistle and they would come over as soon as they saw me. 

The habituation slowly developed into something more than cold psychology, we gained mutual trust and respect. In the end, before ZNY died and VGY moved off with a new mate, they were comfortable enough with me to allow me to sit alongside them and would even bring their cygnets over to within arms reach and be quite relaxed. I learned how to read their moods and behaviours and likewise, they learned my hand signals that denoted a warning for when I would move or stand or my splayed-out fingers to demonstrate I either had no food. This was a very special bond that I have never managed to replicate with the other swans in the area. 

I talk about habituation today because I think that the roe deer are beginning to habituate to me. The two young does have been on my patch their entire lives and just as the local foxes, badgers, and muntjacs are a normal sight, so I believe I have become to them. I am getting pretty good at guessing where on my patch they will be on any given day, nevertheless, they are always one step ahead of me. Their senses are keen and their camouflage nearly perfect.

 This week on my survey I decided not to be too stealthy, they knew I would be there long before I saw them and I wondered if acting stealthy might make me seem more predatory. I have found this trick useful in the past. I try to appear docile and part of the wildlife, I make my movements hesitant and wary I don't make eye contact, something that instantly screams predator. I even try to respond to alarm calls. If a blackbird or great tit alarms I will freeze and look and scared. I try everything I can to seem like one of them. This worked quite well. I spotted the roe deer lurking in the undergrowth they loped away but I didn't follow. Instead, I sat for a bit and then went on. When next I saw them they were standing in the undergrowth watching me, I avoided eye contact and moved further away. Keeping my moments slow I took a few photos. As they moved off again I followed slowly keeping a distance and again taking a seat on a gate feigning disinterest in them. They quickly settled down and whilst they were still wary of me their body language was more relaxed and as they moved they did so in a less panicked state. Although they weren't comfortable enough to stay in my presence they left at a slow pace and not due to any action of mine.

This was the most natural connection I have had with a roe deer and it stemmed from them becoming used to me - habituated and me becoming used to them - habituated. The danger of habituation is that they become too familiar with people, its why many rescue centres try to handle animals as little as possible and will use release pens.