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Home > Iowa Academy of Science > Journals & Newsletters > Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science > Volume 101 (1994) > Number 1

 

Document Type

Research

Keywords

den selection, Iowa, Procyon lotor, raccoon, survival estimation

Abstract

We measured post-natal survival of radio-collared raccoons 1-5 months old in southwest Iowa, 1988-1989. We compared survival of young nurtured by yearling and adult females and related den site selection to survival functions using proportional hazards models. Adult females used upland and farmstead habitats note frequently than yearlings, whereas yearling females used lowland habitats note frequently. Tree cavities and beds on the ground were used most frequently. Adult females denned in buildings 13% of the time and in holes in the ground 9.5% of the time, whereas yearlings frequently tested with litters in beds on the ground (31%). Microhab1tat characteristics including such factors as tree size, surrounding vegetation, and den characteristics had no influence on use. We observed 9 mortalities of 64 earmarked young, 4 caused by dogs, the remaining including vehicle collisions, predation, and disease. All mortalities occurred after litters moved from their natal den to a post-natal den site. We could not show significant differences in survival of young nurtured by yearling and adult females and the best estimate of post-natal survival of raccoons from 22 May to 15 September was 0.65. Post-natal survival was positively influenced by the variety of habitats and den types used by females and their young. Denning habitat selection and post-natal survival of young, particularly those of adult females, may have an important influence on population levels.

Publication Date

March 1994

Journal Title

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science

Volume

101

Issue

1

First Page

24

Last Page

27

Copyright

© Copyright 1994 by the Iowa Academy of Science, Inc.

Language

EN

File Format

application/pdf

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