Future Direction/ Extension Questions:

·         Innate or learned: Switch parents to see if response to owl call by mice is an innate behavior or learned.  Wild mice will raise white mice young and vice versa.  The response to owl calls between the four groups would be studied thereafter.

·         If white mice had previous experience with owls, would the act differently?  Does the age and experience of the mice matter?

·         Did the presence of the experimenters affect the reaction of the mice?  An experiment can be set up using video cameras only and pre-programmed sounds.

·         Did other calls from outside affect our study?  Birds and distant human voices were heard.

·         The experiment was conducted during the day.  The activity level of mice increase at night.  Could performing this same experiment at night yield different results?

·         Decibels of sound could have had an effect on the mice reaction.  The next study has to be done with more knowledge on the correct magnitude of sound that would elicit a response in the mice.

·         In the next study, a bigger test arena is required. Also, the mice need more time to acclimate to their environment. This would reduce their stress level and act more realistically.

·         A study could be done to measure the level of stress hormone increase in wild verse white mice when they hear owl calls, to determine the physiological response that they have.