. The Canadian field-naturalist. i-'^C\IC\lCOC0^-<S- DISTANCE CATEGORIES (m) Figure 2. Distances between observers and Striped Skunks during each location during April through August, 1993-1994, in southcentral Saskatchewan (n = 3647 locations). slightly longer distances when observations were taken <5 m away (Figure 3). Observation type (, visual, auditive, triangula- tion) was correlated with cover height (x"^ = , df = 4, P < ). Disturbance was more likely to occur in shorter vegetation (x^ = , df = 2, P < ), and following visual observations (x'^ =
. The Canadian field-naturalist. i-'^C\IC\lCOC0^-<S- DISTANCE CATEGORIES (m) Figure 2. Distances between observers and Striped Skunks during each location during April through August, 1993-1994, in southcentral Saskatchewan (n = 3647 locations). slightly longer distances when observations were taken <5 m away (Figure 3). Observation type (, visual, auditive, triangula- tion) was correlated with cover height (x"^ = , df = 4, P < ). Disturbance was more likely to occur in shorter vegetation (x^ = , df = 2, P < ), and following visual observations (x'^ = , df = 2, P 1 m) (, skunk in height class one can only change to taller cover and vice versa for height class three). Skunks changed vegetation height classes independently of observation type (x^ = , df = 2, P = ), or disturbance (Fisher's exact test, P = ). Similarly, skunks did not change habitats more often following human disturbance (x^ = , df = I, P = ), or whether the previous observa- tion was visual, auditive, or triangulation (x~ = , 400 m LU o CO 300 200 100. 0-5 6-10 11-15 16-50 Figure 3. Distance moved between consecutive 15-min locations in relation to distance between observer and Striped Skunks (n = 19) during April through August, 1993-1994, in southcentral Saskatchewan. None of the means differ statistically. df = 2, P = ). When habitats were classified by their density and cover thickness, skunks did not show any tendencies to go for denser or sparser habi- tat types depending on the observation type (x" = , df = 2, P = ). However, disturbed skunks remained in the same cover type more than undis- turbed skunks (Fisher's exact test, P = ). Discussion Although our design lacked a true control level (, observer present versus observer not present), the lack of effect of disturbance and observer dis- tance on movement and habitat use suggests that the presence of an observer had minimal influence on the behavi
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