This week's data is from the NYC Squirrel Census - raw data at NY Data portal.
H/t to Sara Stoudt for sharing this data, and Mine Cetinkaya-Rundel for her squirrel data package using the same data.
CityLab's Linda Poon wrote an article using this data.
nyc_squirrels <- readr::read_csv("https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rfordatascience/tidytuesday/master/data/2019/2019-10-29/nyc_squirrels.csv")
| variable | class | description |
|---|---|---|
| long | double | Longitude |
| lat | double | Latitude |
| unique_squirrel_id | character | Identification tag for each squirrel sightings. The tag is comprised of "Hectare ID" + "Shift" + "Date" + "Hectare Squirrel Number." |
| hectare | character | ID tag, which is derived from the hectare grid used to divide and count the park area. One axis that runs predominantly north-to-south is numerical (1-42), and the axis that runs predominantly east-to-west is roman characters (A-I). |
| shift | character | Value is either "AM" or "PM," to communicate whether or not the sighting session occurred in the morning or late afternoon. |
| date | double | Concatenation of the sighting session day and month. |
| hectare_squirrel_number | double | Number within the chronological sequence of squirrel sightings for a discrete sighting session. |
| age | character | Value is either "Adult" or "Juvenile." |
| primary_fur_color | character | Value is either "Gray," "Cinnamon" or "Black." |
| highlight_fur_color | character | Discrete value or string values comprised of "Gray," "Cinnamon" or "Black." |
| combination_of_primary_and_highlight_color | character | A combination of the previous two columns; this column gives the total permutations of primary and highlight colors observed. |
| color_notes | character | Sighters occasionally added commentary on the squirrel fur conditions. These notes are provided here. |
| location | character | Value is either "Ground Plane" or "Above Ground." Sighters were instructed to indicate the location of where the squirrel was when first sighted. |
| above_ground_sighter_measurement | character | For squirrel sightings on the ground plane, fields were populated with a value of "FALSE." |
| specific_location | character | Sighters occasionally added commentary on the squirrel location. These notes are provided here. |
| running | logical | Squirrel was seen running. |
| chasing | logical | Squirrel was seen chasing. |
| climbing | logical | Squirrel was seen climbing. |
| eating | logical | Squirrel was seen eating. |
| foraging | logical | Squirrel was seen foraging. |
| other_activities | character | Other activities |
| kuks | logical | Squirrel was heard kukking, a chirpy vocal communication used for a variety of reasons. |
| quaas | logical | Squirrel was heard quaaing, an elongated vocal communication which can indicate the presence of a ground predator such as a dog. |
| moans | logical | Squirrel was heard moaning, a high-pitched vocal communication which can indicate the presence of an air predator such as a hawk. |
| tail_flags | logical | Squirrel was seen flagging its tail. Flagging is a whipping motion used to exaggerate squirrel's size and confuse rivals or predators. Looks as if the squirrel is scribbling with tail into the air. |
| tail_twitches | logical | Squirrel was seen flagging its tail. Flagging is a whipping motion used to exaggerate squirrel's size and confuse rivals or predators. Looks as if the squirrel is scribbling with tail into the air. |
| approaches | logical | Squirrel was seen approaching human, seeking food. |
| indifferent | logical | Squirrel was indifferent to human presence. |
| runs_from | logical | .Squirrel was seen running from humans, seeing them as a threat. |
| other_interactions | character | Sighter notes on other types of interactions between squirrels and humans. |
| lat_long | character | Combined lat long |
| zip_codes | double | zip codes |
| community_districts | double | Community districts |
| borough_boundaries | double | Borough boundaries |
| city_council_districts | double | City council districts |
| police_precincts | double | Police precincts |