Urban fox behaviour recorded during an extensive field experiment in Bristol, UK. We examined two different but inter-related behaviours, both of which influence a fox's propensity to take risks. Neophobia affects a fox's reaction to novelty in the environment, and wariness its reaction to potential threats. We investigated how social status and foraging social context influenced both behaviours in Bristol’s fox population. For further information please see Padovani et al. 2021.

Two excel spreadsheets.

"Padovani_et_al_Behavioural_Data.xlsx" details neophobia and wariness behaviour per fox individual, with behaviour captured through 12 variables that represent different aspects of urban fox hesitation and avoidance behaviour. Recording season, fox social group, and foraging social context (alone/with other foxes present) is also recorded. PC1 and PC2 values emerging from a principal components analysis of the 12 behavioural variables are also listed. The "Total Behaviour - Neophobia" tab represents behaviour in response to the neophobia stimulus, irrespective of foraging social context. The "Total Behaviour - Wariness" tab represents behaviour in response to the wariness stimulus, irrespective of foraging social context. The "Social Context - Neophobia" tab represents behaviour in response to the neophobia stimulus, and in response to foraging social context. The "Social Context - Wariness" tab represents behaviour in response to the wariness stimulus, and in response to foraging social context. Descriptions of column headings are provided on the "Variable Definitions" tab.

"Padovani_et_al_Habituation_Data.xlsx" details a subset of the neophobia and wariness behaviours recorded in "Padovani_et_al_Behavioural_Data.xlsx", with these behaviours broken down across days 1, 2, and 4 of the neophobia and wariness tests. These data were used to determine if any habituation occured to the neophobia or wariness stimuli as the tests progressed. The "Neophobia" tab represents behaviour in response to the neophobia stimulus. Missing values indicate that a fox did not forage in the test circle on that day. The "Wariness" tab represents behaviour in response to the wariness stimulus. Missing values indicate that a fox did not forage in the test circle on that day. Descriptions of column headings are provided on the "Variable Definitions" tab.

For further details on all experimental processes, variables, and stastical analyses, see Padovani et al. 2021.