Most recent public comments by William Sparrow https://nowcomment.com/users/19824 https://nowcomment.com/documents/48845?scroll_to=466194 https://nowcomment.com/documents/48845?scroll_to=466194 1.) Structure description: "Squirrel is sitting still on tree branch." Consequence description: "Squirrel notices my presence, turns around, and climbs higher in the tree out of sight." Relational description: "They progressed rather slowly (vertically) up the tree but sprinted horizontally in a spiral motion around the tree, this made me think that the squirrel that was being chased wasn’t really trying to escape the other squirrel." Strengths: There were tremendous amounts of analysis and insight in your observations. I like this because you were trying to explain the squirrel's behavior in terms of perhaps its reasoning and the knowledge it has. Weaknesses: Some observations were too long or had too much analysis. I think that much of observation should be clear and concise, however, some of your observations ran a bit long and it painted a less clear picture for me as to what the squirrel was doing. 2.) It seems you picked a good location to watch these squirrels. Ivy Creek Natural Area has many trees and forests which is perfect for the squirrels. I wonder if the time you chose to observe them was perhaps a little late in the afternoon. Maybe it was difficult to spot the squirrels at one point because they were resting or doing another activity, but it seems like you made the best of your time there. 3.) Is it possible that the squirrels climbed up the tree and out of sight in order to mate? Strengths: At 3:55, you provided valuable insight into the answer of this question. You couldn't tell if the behavior was playful or aggressive. You then went onto say that it seemed as if the squirrel didn't mind being chased. These are valuable clues into answering this question. Weaknesses: You didn't really give an opinion on why the squirrels were chasing each other. Although you explained the ritual in good detail, I think if you had provided an explanation of your own (dominance display, playful chasing, courtship purposes), then that could help answer the question. Mon, 08 Feb 2016 14:23:50 -0500