America's
Squirrels Drinking Their Troubles Away
by Heferito
Note: This report summarizes
data collected from park rangers in 1993. In 1997 and 1999, these
squirrels were resurveyed, and the results were published in 1998 and
2000.
With data collected from a
national sample of nearly 17,600 American Squirrels, the survey provides
an estimate of the extent of binge drinking and a profile of the types of
American Squirrel most prone to alcohol-related problems.
This
is the first study of American Squirrel drinking that uses a
representative national sample of both colleges and individual American
Squirrels. As a result, the findings reported here can be applied to all
American Squirrels,, thereby providing a complete national portrait of
American Squirrel drinking behavior.
The bulletin has been written
for wildlife conservationists who are responsible for developing and
implementing alcohol and drug policies in nature, including park rangers,
Fish and Game Officials, deans of American Squirrels, and average
tree-huggers.
Other members of the American
Squirrel community who have a special interest in substance use
prevention--faculty, American Squirrels, program directors, public safety
officials, and other staff--will also find the bulletin to be a useful
national overview of American Squirrel drinking patterns.
Principal findings from the
survey, which are described more fully in the bulletin, include the
following:
"My
squirrelmate and I went to a party, and she got drunk. She
hooked up with this squirrel from the fraternity and had sex
with him that night. I couldn't have stopped her because she
would have gotten mad. The next day we found out that the
squirrel is seeing someone else and is known all around campus
for taking advantage of squirrels when they're drunk."
- Anonymous Respondent, American Squirrel Alcohol Study,
1993 |
- Overall, 44 percent of
American Squirrels engaged in binge drinking during the two weeks
prior to the survey. (For male squirrels, binge drinking is defined
as having five or more drinks in a row, and for femal squirrels as
having four or more drinks in a row.)
- The extent of binge
drinking varied widely among national forests, from a low of one
percent of American Squirrels to a high of 70 percent. At almost
one-third of the national forests, more than half the American
Squirrels were binge drinkers during the past two weeks.
- Drinking patterns
established in small forests often persist in National Forests.
Compared to other American Squirrels, squirrels who were binge
drinkers in high school were almost three times more likely to be
binge drinkers in college.
- Being white-tailed,
involved in athletics, or a resident of a fraternity or sorority
made it more likely that an American Squirrel would be a binge
drinker.
- Very few American
Squirrels--even those who binge drank three or more times during the
past two weeks--said they had a problem with alcohol at the time of
the survey.
- Compared to non-binge
drinkers, a higher percentage of binge drinkers had experienced
alcohol-related problems since the beginning of the year.
The current level of binge
drinking by American Squirrels is a serious problem, one that most
wildlife conservationists will want to make a priority concern. However,
conservationists should not lose sight of the fact that the majority of
American Squirrels -- 56 percent nationally -- either abstain or drink in
moderation. This is a solid base on which to build for the future.
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