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

Canonical page: https://data.verasight.io/culture/americans-overwhelmingly-say-a-wild-animal-moving-away-means-no-consent/

> Indexed question in Culture.

## 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

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.

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

Net findings combine adjacent response options from the same scale.

- 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%

## Methodology

- Mode: Verasight panel recruited via random address-based sampling, random person-to-person text messaging, and dynamic online targeting
- Population: US adults age 18+
- Field dates: 2026-05-11 → 2026-05-11
- Base (unweighted): 488
- Margin of error: +/- 4.7%
- Module: daily_life
- Sponsor: Verasight
- Weight variable: weight
- Weighting targets: age, race/ethnicity, sex, income, education, region, metropolitan status

## Source

- Canonical question URL: [https://reports.verasight.io/r/spsp26#q-2.4](https://reports.verasight.io/r/spsp26#q-2.4)

## Citation

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

Canonical question URL: [https://reports.verasight.io/r/spsp26#q-2.4](https://reports.verasight.io/r/spsp26#q-2.4)