Route‐based Visual Information has Limited Effect on the Homing Performance of Red Squirrels, Tamiasciurus hudsonicus

The role of route‐based visual information in the homing behavior of red squirrels ( Tamiasciurus hudsonicus ) was assessed in an experiment contrasting the homing performance of 8 squirrels that could see the landscape during displacement and that of 8 squirrels that could not. Availability of route‐based visual information improves the accuracy of homeward orientation but is of no use for the animals to assess distance to home. These findings are congruent with the “critical‐distance model” (Bovet 1984, 1987) which implies that choice of direction and estimation of distance are independent processes in the homing performance of untrained animals.