What Exactly Are We Calling Habituation?

[Old Dog]

There has been a ton of talk lately about habituation.  I'm not all together sure that we are all on the same page as to what habituation is.  I would like to get a general consensus as to what the term means.

 

To me it means a regular habitation of something.  For example:  I have a few deer that I am experiencing a habituation with on my property here in WA.  They bed down on my property, they eat the plants on my property, they roam around the area, and at the end of the day they return to my property to bed down again.  I can feed them by hand and can reach out and touch them if I so chose.  To me that is habituation.  Constant exposure and interaction, not having a few deer that I see from time to time in the distance, or sounds that I hear that makes me think they are around, but constant intensive interaction.  To me, that is habituation.  What is your take on what habituation is/

Edited May 30, 2013 by Old Dog

[Rockape]

To me habitation would be frequent encounters on the same property, near someone's home. They don't have to be making direct contact, just seeing and hearing them regularly. But there should be something that shows they have no fear of the person and some sort of contact, either gifting, food, or vocal responses.

[norseman]

Habituation is a term used to describe the actions of a animal that has been habituated to something, either humans, cars, train horns, whatever. LIke old dog said above the deer that live on his property have been habituated to lose all fear of humans.

 

http://www.animalbehavioronline.com/habituation.html

 

I work in the oil field which is generally located on rancher's property. The roads cross lots of pastures and cattle guards. The cows have calved and while the cows while chew their cud while I drive by the calves will kick up their heels and run off away from my truck. It is then safe to say that the cows and bulls have become habituated to oil field traffic.

[Bonehead74]

http://bigfootforums.com/index.php?/topic/8664-habituation-sites/

 

 

Sasquatch habituation is a long-term situation near a place of regular human activity, where one or more sasquatch creatures solicit and/or are ambivalent to regular interaction with a human or humans, in ways that are atypical when contrasted with the standard model of bigfoot behavior; which describes the creature as shy, reclusive, and averse to human contact.

 

[Guest]

In simplest of terms habituation is a decrease, or complete absence of response to a stimulus. 

 

Sometimes I question what is being habituated though.  Leaving out a food gift and it being gone when you return could easily mean you are habituation a raccoon - or more accurately conditioning a raccoon. 

[Guest DWA]

A lot of he talk seems to be branding 'habituation' and making it a Bad Word.

 

When it is done, the consequences aren't predictable, as many adverse interactions between people and long-habituated animals that suddenly "snapped" - one might say "reverted to wildness" - show.

 

But it doesn't have to be "taming."  Reading the Operation Persistence thread, WSA has said, and I agree with him, that NAWAC is engaging in it.  Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey did too.  I was actually suggesting the approach well before NAWAC tried it.  Why it works can be guessed at when one walks in the woods and sees no animals - then gets visited at night by the animals that fled during the day, as they see the human settling into a place where its activities can be more or less predicted.  The house, cabin, or what have you has long since become a feature on the landscape; the human inside it is not the threatening figure that was patrolling your territory a few hours ago, likely up to no good.

 

And Operation Persistence seems to say, it works.

[bipedalist]

I think most habituations occur without direct habitation in the immediate vicinity ymmv.  Your definition of immediate probably differs from mine because I am normally in montane environments. 

 

Confusing the two (habitate/habituation) is confusing is usually not necessary in the discussion.  An animal (BF) can habitate anywhere the habitat is conducive to that.  Habituation could be to an oil truck like norse suggests, or to a timber sale that is ruining your peace and quiet.  In the BF sense it is getting used to human activity or patterns of behavior.  Sometimes resulting in changes in behavior. 

 

Situations such as habituation occur where variables are changed to create a pattern of movement (not always a pattern of residence) or conditioning such such that normal habit patterns or instinctive behavior are changed (such as no longer perceiving danger near a traditional rival or enemy).....eventual accommodation or acceptance of the changes is sort of implicit in this.  

 

Operant conditioning such as primary reinforcement (food) may be at work but obviously if BF is a social critter social learning and modeling may be at work as well. 

 

This is one reason I think BF uses mimicry around humans...... it is a game and a test rolled up into one.  OK, my head hurts.  Time to hit an easier thread. 

[Guest JiggyPotamus]

I think most people use the term to refer to sasquatch that have become "fond" of certain people for whatever reason. They repeatedly display behavior such as showing up at a certain location, and seem fairly comfortable around a certain person or people. But it is my opinion that some people mistake this behavior for habituation, in the sense of fondness for certain people, because they do not understand exactly what the sasquatch are thinking.

 

I do not believe the sasquatch view people as "friends" very often, although it seems possible that they might in certain situations. It is likely that the sasquatch keep coming to a certain location because it gives them something they need, perhaps that they feel safe there. They may show a predisposition for certain people because these people feed them. We all know that animals can be taught to respond in certain ways by training them with rewards. IMO the quickest way to get a sasquatch to approach a certain location is to use food. If they think there is going to be food somewhere because of past experiences, they are likely to hang around or show up at that location.

 

And given the intelligence of sasquatch, it is highly likely that they are able to make the connection between humans and food. This would explain what many refer to as "gifting," which seems fairly common for sasquatch. This implies intelligence in my opinion. But I do view intelligence differently from other individuals, especially when it comes to sasquatch, but I have treated this particular topic in other posts, so I will not delve into that in this particular thread.

 

So basically habituation, to me, involves a specific sasquatch or group of sasquatch showing up to a particular location where the probability of encountering a specific human or humans is high. And they obviously have to know this. So for whatever reason they are getting used to being around certain people. But, this should not be mistaken as thinking that sasquatch will allow a person to get close to them. They may allow a person to get within a certain distance, or they themselves may will approach within a certain distance, but they will most likely never allow a human to get so close that they can touch them. This is partly why I think we should not mistake the way they view the situation. They are not thinking of people as "equals," and maybe not even as "friends," considering they do not allow close contact or interactions.

 

This may say something about how they can be trained in the future, as well as let us know what to expect from them if interactions progress some day. I think this says quite a bit about their overall nature as well, and could back up the claim that these animals are solitary in some sense. I also wanted to say that I think habituation is quite rare, given the nature of the sasquatch. I also believe that females and adolescents would be much more likely to establish habituation type patterns of behavior, as opposed to a fully grown male sasquatch. I believe these to be quite territorial and possessive, probably over their mates as well. There is some evidence for this in the sighting record.

[Guest]

i think it's having a bigfoot on your property but not sharing any evidence of it. 

[Guest]

Habituation is what Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey did with chimps and gorillas . After a great deal of time they became habituated to them being around and was not seen as a threat. However that is not the case with BF habituation. They are habituating humans to them. People are the habituatees. If a person is having multiple encounters, then it is on purpose.

[Guest DWA]

Well, really, the case as speculated for sasquatch was the case with Fossey and Goodall, too.  (And with NAWAC's Operation Endurance.)

 

If the animal - whatever animal - doesn't want it, it is unlikely to happen.

[Sunflower]

The word "habituator" is a misnomer in most cases.  I like the word "observer" because that is what many of my friends are doing.  They live their lives as usual and have visitors from time to time who happen to be very tall, hairy and suck at conversation.

 

Hubby and I have made ourselves known to the locals here and as we see in several pics there is some evidence that they understand that we leave cookies, treats, toys and salt and those items are meant for them.  I whistle to them to let them know just in case but I'm sure they know us.

 

And there have been times where we didn't leave anything at all just happened to be at their regular spot.  I have a very strong suspicion that they live under this enormous rock outcropping which is as large as a normal size house. 

 

It's really a very special relationship because apparently some have figured out where we live and have made a few visits here.   

[Guest]

I thing we have several definitions of "habituation":

 

A case where sasquatch are living on the same property as a home, and the inhabitants of the home see them and interact with them on a consistent basis.

 

A case where people living on a property are encountering sasquatch during a migration.

 

A case where people are encountering sasquatch at a specific location, not necessarily their home - which should not be called a habituation, but a multiple-encounter witness.  This may be deliberate or accidental just due to being in the same place at the same time.

 

A case where people are encountering sasquatch at a specific location and are providing food or gifts to improve chances of interaction.  

 

A case where people who have no boots on the ground make fun of those who consider they have ongoing activity with sasquatch species.  "Habituator" used as a derogatory term, used to shame and make fun of witnesses or those who claim to be so.

 

I consider a situation a habituation scenario if the encounters are happening where both humans and sasquatch live on the same property, at least part of the year together.

[indiefoot]

Habituation occurs when one group or individual attempts to modify the behavior of another group or individual through repetition of a particular stimulus or behavior. Location wouldn't seem to be a factor.

[Guest]

I think of it like this.

 

The fish, Turtles, and waterfowl at the local artificial pond are not habituated just because they live in a manmade water system.

But the fish, Turtles, and waterfowl that gather by the boathouse to beg for handouts at the same time everyday are habituated.