Key Takeaways
- A 15‑year‑old Guelph student turned her family’s love of squirrels into a controlled backyard experiment on colour preference.
- Kira hypothesized that squirrels, like dogs, would favour blue and yellow, but found they were most attracted to red and yellow and least to grey.
- Her project earned a spot at the Canada‑Wide Science Fair in Edmonton after advancing through school‑ and regional‑level fairs.
- Beyond science, Kira is active in charity work, robotics, track, and is considering a STEM‑focused future in engineering, medicine, or entrepreneurship.
Background and Family Inspiration
Kira Egete’s fascination with squirrels began shortly after her family immigrated from Serbia to Canada in 2014. In their homeland, squirrels are rare, so the newcomers were delighted by the lively rodents that now frequented their neighbourhood. This shared enthusiasm became a bonding activity, with Kira and her relatives often watching the animals dart across trees and lawns. The curiosity that sprouted from casual observation soon evolved into a more formal inquiry when Kira was tasked with a Grade 10 culminating assignment. Rather than treating the project as a routine school requirement, she let her personal interest guide her investigation, transforming a family hobby into a scientific endeavour. The support and enthusiasm of her parents and siblings provided both motivation and a ready‑made audience for her findings, reinforcing the idea that genuine passion can drive rigorous research even at a young age.
Formulating the Research Question and Hypothesis
After immersing herself in literature about animal vision, Kira learned that squirrels possess dichromatic vision, similar to that of dogs. Dogs can differentiate blue from yellow but cannot distinguish red from green, a condition termed yellow‑blue dichromacy. This knowledge sparked Kira’s central question: How do squirrels perceive colour, and which hues are they most drawn to? Building on the canine analogy, she hypothesized that squirrels would show a preference for blue and yellow stimuli, mirroring the visual strengths documented in dogs. The hypothesis was deliberately simple, allowing a clear, testable prediction while still addressing a gap in public knowledge about squirrel perception. By grounding her expectation in comparative biology, Kira set the stage for an experiment that could either confirm existing assumptions or reveal novel insights into rodent visual ecology.
Designing the Backyard Experiment
To test her hypothesis, Kira converted her family’s backyard into a controlled testing arena. She procured five identical flowerpots and painted each a distinct colour—red, yellow, green, blue, and grey—ensuring that hue was the only variable. Using a phone‑based lux meter app, she meticulously matched the brightness of each pot so that differences in light intensity would not confound the results. Every pot received an identical sealant coating to eliminate residual scent cues, and a single peanut was placed inside each as a uniform food reward. To counteract any positional bias, Kira randomized the order of the pots before each trial. A GoPro camera, positioned at a fixed height and angle, recorded the squirrels’ interactions during one‑hour observation windows. This rigorous setup allowed her to isolate colour preference as the primary factor influencing the animals’ foraging decisions.
Data Collection, Trials, and Results
Over two months, Kira conducted 64 experimental sessions, but the first 14 yielded no squirrel visits, likely due to initial wariness of the novel apparatus. She therefore analysed the subsequent 50 valid trials, noting the sequence in which squirrels approached each coloured pot. Contrary to her expectation, the data revealed a strong attraction to red and yellow, with these colours being chosen first in a majority of trials. Grey pots were consistently the least favoured, while blue and green fell into an intermediate range. The findings suggest that squirrels may be more responsive to longer‑wavelength (warmer) colours rather than the shorter‑wavelength (cooler) hues that dogs preferentially see. Kira posited that this preference could be linked to the natural colouration of food sources or environmental cues in the squirrels’ habitat, offering a plausible ecological explanation for the observed pattern.
Recognition at School and Regional Fairs
Kira first presented her project at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic High School’s internal science fair, where it stood out among 70 participants. Alana Harrison, the library technician who oversees the fair, recalled Kira’s early enthusiasm and praised her dedication: “She came to me quite early on saying she was fascinated by squirrels… From there, she just ran with it.” The school’s judges selected Kira and five peers to advance to the Waterloo‑Wellington Science and Engineering Fair. At the regional level, Kira initially felt nervous but quickly gained confidence as judges engaged her with thoughtful questions and commended her methodology. Their positive feedback affirmed the quality of her work and secured her a coveted spot at the Canada‑Wide Science Fair in Edmonton, where she will join roughly 400 other young scientists from across the nation.
Future Aspirations and Community Involvement
Beyond the laboratory bench, Kira is a well‑rounded contributor to her school community. She leads a charitable initiative called Hugs and Hand, participates in the robotics team, competes on the track squad, and volunteers in various extracurricular activities. Harrison describes her as “an absolute gift to the school,” highlighting how Kira’s curiosity extends into service and leadership. When asked about her future, Kira expressed a keen interest in pursuing STEM studies, specifically engineering or medicine, while also nurturing an entrepreneurial mindset that could one day blend scientific innovation with business acumen. For now, her focus remains on the upcoming national fair and the squirrels that inspired her journey—a reminder that even the most familiar backyard visitors can spark profound scientific discovery.