This is motivated by the ol’ squirrels-in-the-attic problem. I want to try out a big rubber snake, but the truth is, the squirrels in my semi-urban neighborhood probably know about snakes only from TV or the internet. So will they have an instinctual avoidance reaction?
the evidence with animals is mixed. somestudies find inate fear in monkeys http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=8297318&dopt=Abstract
some haven’t
Research into fear respnses in animals shows that many prey animals show an instictive fear response to specific stimuli associated with their traditional predators. Rubber snakes and hawk siluettes have been used. However, the animal can become habituated (less sensative to the stimulus) through repeated exposure, if they aren’t endangered by it.
http://www.wku.edu/~smithch/wallace/S534.htm
Conversely, you can condition a fear response to harmless things by associating something dangerous or unpleasant with it. The “Little Albert” study is the classic example.
That said, the subject of instinct is still debated.
Oh, if you plan to toss a rubber snake into the attic to scare away squirrels, it probably won’t work. Even if the little things are terrified of the rubber snake, they’ll probably become acclimated to its presence eventually. Afterall, squirrels get attacked by predators all the time, it doesn’t mean that they avoid the places they’ve been attacked forever. If there’s food, water and shelter in your attic, the pressence of a rubber snake won’t deter them forever, even if it scares them at first.
Good point. I only want to scare them out once, before I patch up. But the habituation thing is readily observed wherever you see those plastic owls – surrounded by flocks of pigeons.