For my map, I decided to disregard squirrel fur color, although the icons were quite endearing, and instead on tail twitching. The blue dots represent locations at which squirrels were sighted twitching their tails, while the faint grey X’s (almost imperceptible) are locations where squirrels did not twitch their tails. My greatest concern was finding out the crime statistics for the area. It turns out that I can’t get more specific statistics on the crime that happens within Central Park, but what I do know is that the Park on the whole ranks among the highest crime rates in Manhattan (compared to the national average), as well as among the boroughs.
I posit that there could be a relationship explored with more sophisticated techniques, about whether squirrels twitched their tails more in locations near blocks that are darker red, meaning that they have higher crime rates, because of the perceived threat around that particular location. Obviously, there is no correlation on this map. However, that the squirrels are so bountiful and the crime rate as well in Central Park could only mean one thing… they’re up to no good…
One reply on “nervous twitch?”
I think that the idea that squirrel behavior could be in some ways tied to human crime rate is fascinating, but how much do you think that tail twitching behavior might just be tied to human presence, not necessarily based on what those humans are doing?