awareness quiz #1

see my disclaimer thread before or after this thread

i am embarking on an awareness quiz over the next several weeks to help challange some and to answer some questions for others there will be two questions eack week which hopefully you will respond to then i will post the answers as have been taught to me, i will not say whether you are ight or wrong just how i have been taught to see what i am observing. so best of luck i look forward to your musings.

1-why do chipmonks and squirrels continuously flick their tails? (hint: their chatter is often for the same reason.)

2-instead of running off the road, deer sometimes zig-zag in front of a vehicle and end up getting hit. what is the reason for this seemingly suicidal behavior?

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Originally Posted by wareagle69

see my disclaimer thread before or after this thread
Hey wareagle, thanks for taking the time for this.
-Sam

i am embarking on an awareness quiz over the next several weeks to help challange some and to answer some questions for others there will be two questions eack week which hopefully you will respond to then i will post the answers as have been taught to me, i will not say whether you are ight or wrong just how i have been taught to see what i am observing. so best of luck i look forward to your musings.

1-why do chipmonks and squirrels continuously flick their tails? (hint: their chatter is often for the same reason.)

I think they flick the tails to communicate either 'go away' or 'hey baby, whatchu doin''.

2-instead of running off the road, deer sometimes zig-zag in front of a vehicle and end up getting hit. what is the reason for this seemingly suicidal behavior?

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I think the dear are looking over their shoulders to see which way you are 'running' after them.

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Originally Posted by wareagle69

1-why do chipmonks and squirrels continuously flick their tails? (hint: their chatter is often for the same reason.)

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To mark their territory, and tell other rodents to "go away".

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2-instead of running off the road, deer sometimes zig-zag in front of a vehicle and end up getting hit. what is the reason for this seemingly suicidal behavior?

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It is predator evasion instinct.

i would have answered the same as bulrush. that was easy got anything a little tougher

The tail flicking indicates that the animal is in distress and is warning others.

I agree with the evasion comments.

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Originally Posted by crashdive123

The tail flicking indicates that the animal is in distress and is warning others.

I agree with the evasion comments.

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Yea what crash said..

Tail flicking and chatter are communication and the zig zag is evasion....?

last chance to answer folks will be posting soon

Without looking at others' answers, here are my guesses:

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Originally Posted by wareagle69

1-why do chipmonks and squirrels continuously flick their tails? (hint: their chatter is often for the same reason.)

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Hmm. I'm gonna say it is a territorial display to other chipmunks/squirrels.

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Originally Posted by wareagle69

2-instead of running off the road, deer sometimes zig-zag in front of a vehicle and end up getting hit. what is the reason for this seemingly suicidal behavior?

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I'm gonna guess that this zig-zag behavior is a technique to throw off pursuit from carnivores in the wild, which may be more effective at sprinting in straight lines.

Im with riverrat

I would say they flick their tales to alert others of danger.
the deer I believe do not usually outrun danger but rather leaps and cuts and bounces out of site.

or sometimes into the car.

#1. chipmunk tail flicker: a communication: alert, defense, mating, etc of territorial presence same as the "barking".
#2. deer zig zag: it helps a deer to elude a predator by making the predator skid off at angles in the pursuit, just as the predator is about to tag the deer it takes off at a different angle and foils hopefully the hit. It also allows the deer to evades trees and such physical obsticals to impede the predator and augment its percentage of escape in the chase. It maintains this ingrained behavior even on a clear roadways, the deer's genetic makeup has not yet completely adapted to a straight clear pathway, its behavior was the successful strategy evolved through ages of being pursued.

CHipmunks and squirrels seem to call an alarm whenever a potential predator is in the area. Kinda like the neighborhood watch of the woods. I would imagine that deer are zigzagging to avoid being caught by a predator in persuit.

Guess #2
squirrels flick their tales to ward off bees
deer use zig=zag pattern to avoid fire ant mounds?

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