My field partner explained it to me one day, long ago. If they all did the same thing, a simple change in the environment could erase the whole population. Nature is smarter then that, Individual variation allows for survival.

A great example occurred here some years back. We have mountain kings in our mountains. They live mostly in the ground, but sometimes up in rock outcrops and dead trees, or hollows in live trees.

There has been several massive fires burning hundreds of thousands of acres. Those hollows and dead trees and the mountain kings inside are erased, but the individuals deep in the ground are fine. Even the individuals that were near the surface were erased. Those populations are back to ground dwellers.

So nature makes sure, there are always individuals to carry on. Even when it occurs in the opposite direction, massive floods can erase the ground dwellers and the individuals higher up survive, as least temporarily.

In nature, your animal would simply be culled from the population, but this is not nature and your not willing to cull it, so how about thinking out of the box and trying stuff normal to the animal. Best wishes

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