ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Horne method

The Horne method is like a special way of counting the number of wild animals in a certain area. Imagine you're playing a game of hide-and-seek with your friends, but instead of people hiding, we're looking for animals.

To start playing the game, we first need to create an area where the animals can hide. This area is like a big room with walls around it. We call this the "study area."

Now, to find out how many animals are hiding in this study area, we need to be very quiet and listen very carefully. We'll also need some special tools like a spotlight and a powerful flashlight, just like the ones you see in the movies.

Once we're ready, we start to slowly walk around the study area while listening for animal sounds. The animals might be moving around or making calls to each other, so we need to pay close attention.

When we hear an animal, we shine our spotlight in that direction. This helps us see the animal and identify what kind it is. We write down which animal we saw and where we saw it in our notebook.

As we continue walking around and listening, we might hear the same animal again. We'll shine our spotlight in that direction again and write down any information we can about that animal.

Finally, when we finish walking around the study area, we'll count up how many animals we saw. This number tells us how many animals are hiding in the area right now.

Overall, the Horne method is a special way of counting animals that involves listening carefully, using special tools, and noting down information about what we see and hear. It's like a fun game of hide-and-seek, but instead of people, we're looking for animals.