Risk-sensitive optimal foraging model. Imagine a shrew that must decide between patch 1 that always yields 8 pellets under the cover and patch 2 in which half the time there are no pellets and half the time there are 16 pellets.

Both patches have the same mean (8), but the variance is greater in patch 2. If our forager takes variance into account, it is foraging in a risk-sensitive manner.