Report · Culture

Americans overwhelmingly say a wild animal moving away means no consent

Reading

Most U.S. adults (86%) agree that a wild animal moving away when a person tries to handle it means the animal does not consent, including 42% who strongly agree, according to a May 2026 Verasight survey of 488 U.S. adults.

Only 4% disagree, and another 10% neither agree nor disagree.

Topline

response scale

Topline scale

Americans overwhelmingly say a wild animal moving away means no consent.

Please indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree with the following statement: If a wild animal moves away when a human attempts to handle it, that means the animal does not consent to being handled.

  • Strongly agree 41.5%
  • Agree 33.3%
  • Somewhat agree 11.5%
  • Neither agree nor disagree 10.1%
  • Somewhat disagree 2.2%
  • Strongly disagree 0.9%
  • Disagree 0.4%

2026 · base n 488 · +/- 4.7%

daily_life

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Methodology

Full methodology
Mode
Verasight panel recruited via random address-based sampling, random person-to-person text messaging, and dynamic online targeting
Field dates
2026-05-11 → 2026-05-11
Base (unweighted)
488
Margin of error
+/- 4.7%
Module
daily_life

Source

Citation

Verasight SPSP Omnibus Survey #2026-045, fielded May 11-11, 2026, N=488 US adults age 18+, +/- 4.7%.

https://reports.verasight.io/r/spsp26

Verasight survey methodology

How Verasight conducts surveys.

This page describes the Verasight general survey contract, separate from how the Data Library packages it. When a wave report is published, its field dates, sample sizes, and module breakdown are listed in that report.

Mode
Verasight panel recruited via random address-based sampling, random person-to-person text messaging, and dynamic online targeting.
Population
US adults age 18+.
Sample design
Surveys are run as omnibus or single-topic waves. Omnibus waves are split into modules with their own respondent set, typically around one thousand respondents per module.
Field window
Each wave specifies its own field dates. Most omnibus waves field across roughly two weeks.
Weighting
Per-module weighting to CPS targets including age, race and ethnicity, sex, income, education, region, and metropolitan status.
Partisanship benchmark
Pew Research Center's NPORS benchmarking surveys, three-year running average.
Vote benchmark
2024 presidential vote population benchmarks.
Margin of error
Typically about plus or minus 3.4 to 3.6 percent per module at standard module sizes. Question-level MoE is recomputed when a base shrinks materially below the module baseline.
Reporting
The canonical report hub is reports.verasight.io. Verified legacy reports remain on their original hosts, and unpublished reports are marked pending.
Transparency
Verasight is a member of the American Association for Public Opinion Research Transparency Initiative.

The canonical report hub is reports.verasight.io; older reports may remain on verified legacy hosts.