Response of raccoon spatial and social behavior to the presence of an experimentally clumped food resource

The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file.Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on January 20, 2010).Thesis advisor: Dr. Matthew E. Gompper.Includes bibliographical references.M.S. University of Missouri--Columbia 2009.Dissertations, Academic -- University of Missouri--Columbia -- Fisheries and wildlife.In order to examine the effect of clumped resource patches on the transition from a solitary to a social or group-living lifestyle in a putativeIy solitary carnivore I contrasted raccoons inhabiting two adjacent sites on the University of Missouri Thomas S. Baskett Research and Education Area. I created a permanent feeding station where food was placed in clumped fashion while the other site received the food dispersed to multiple sites that varied over time. Radio telemetry data were analyzed to assess for differences between the sites. Home range size did not differ between treatments sites or genders, but raccoons from the clumped resource site were more likely to occur in the same geographic space. Communal denning, proximity of dens, and den reuse behaviors did not differ overall between the two sites, but clumped resource site raccoons moved shorter distances between subsequently used den sites and to utilize dens located within a smaller area. Differences in the patterns of overlap, co-occurrence, communal denning, proximal denning, and den reuse found in this study suggest that raccoons and perhaps other putatively solitary mesocarnivores are not truly solitary, but rather appear so only where resource availability induces territories occupied by just a single individual

Effects of clumped resources on den use by male raccoons at Baskett Wildlife Area

Abstract only availableThe objective of this study is to determine the effects of an experimentally manipulated clumped resource on den use by male raccoons. Male raccoons typically exhibit solitary foraging strategies and den selection. Telemetry was used to locate den sites for eight radio-collared male raccoons distributed across two study sites. Baskett Wildlife Area was divided into an experimental site (North Baskett) containing a centralized food plot, and a control site (South Baskett) without a centralized food plot. GIS computer software was used plot, analyze and compare potential differences in den site use between the experimental and control sites. Data was collected 4-5 consecutive days per week over a two month period between June 1, 2008 and July 31, 2008.NSF Undergraduate Mentoring in Environmental Biolog