Which of the following techniques would most accurately measure the dispersion pattern of the population being studied?

A) counting the number of times a one-kilometer transect is intersected by tracks of red squirrels after a snowfall
B) measuring the distance between several burrows within a large prairie dog colony in a grassland
C) measuring the average distance between individuals and their nearest neighbor, and then analyzing the variation and comparing those measurements at larger scales
D) counting the number of zebras from airplane census observations