Raccoon (Procyon lotor) Home Ranges in Itasca State Park
2011-02-03
Loading...
View/Download File
Persistent link to this item
Statistics
View StatisticsJournal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Title
Raccoon (Procyon lotor) Home Ranges in Itasca State Park
Authors
Published Date
2011-02-03
Publisher
Type
Scholarly Text or Essay
Abstract
Raccoons (Procyon lotor) are some of the most popular and most damaging animals in
the state park. Guests delight in viewing these charismatic animals, but they cause thousands of
dollars in damages each year in their attempts at stealing food. We are examining the home range
of raccoons in Itasca State Park in Minnesota in late May through early June. The home range of
adult mammals can be affected by a wide variety of different things from sex, availability of
resources, and weather (Gehrt & Fritzell 1997).We are predicting the males will have a larger
home range than those of females. Earlier studies have found that young raccoons are often born
in early May, and it is the females that care for the young (Stuewer 1943). Female animals would
be restricted to the area around the natal den while males are free to roam. Also, raccoons are
promiscuous animals, so it’s advantageous for males to maintain a large home range to overlap
with as many females a possible (Gehrt & Fritzell 1997).
We also expect the proximity to the campground to have an impact on the home range
sizes. Food quantities and dispersal can affect movements and home range of a wide variety of
mammals. If the raccoons remain near the campground, they’re expected to have a smaller home
range. They have an abundant, relatively stable food supply. This means they won’t need to
wander far in search of food (Prange et al. 2004). If the raccoons leave the area of Bear Paw
Campground, we expect them to have a larger home range because they’ll be moving farther in
search of food.
Keywords
Description
Student paper, EEB 4825, 2010
Related to
Replaces
License
Collections
Series/Report Number
Funding information
Isbn identifier
Doi identifier
Previously Published Citation
Suggested citation
Bellrichard, Mitchell. (2011). Raccoon (Procyon lotor) Home Ranges in Itasca State Park. Retrieved from the University Digital Conservancy, https://hdl.handle.net/11299/99659.
Content distributed via the University Digital Conservancy may be subject to additional license and use restrictions applied by the depositor. By using these files, users agree to the Terms of Use. Materials in the UDC may contain content that is disturbing and/or harmful. For more information, please see our statement on harmful content in digital repositories.