High human disturbance decreases individual variability in skink escape behavior.

Animals living around people may modify their antipredator behavior as a function of proximity to humans, and this response has profound implications for whether or not a population can coexist with humans. We asked whether inland blue-tailed skinks modified their individual antipredator behavior as a function of differential exposure to humans. We conducted multiple consecutive flushes and recorded 2 measures of antipredator response: flight initiation distance (FID), the distance from a threatening stimulus at which an individual flees, and distance fled, the distance an individual fled after a flush.