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- Title
Survival of Unexploited Raccoons on a Rural Refuge in Southern Illinois.
- Authors
Urbanek, Rachael E.; Nielsen, Clayton K.; Wilson, Shona E.
- Abstract
Although raccoons (Procyon lotor) have been studied extensively throughout their range, few studies have focused on unharvested populations in rural refuge settings. During 2003-2005, we quantified survival of unexploited raccoons on a rural refuge in southern Illinois. We captured 54 adult females and monitored them for survival via radiotelemetry for 26 months. Similar to other unexploited raccoon populations, survival was 0.80 and did not vary seasonally. Twelve of 54 radiocollared raccoons died during the study; causes of mortality were disease (n = 5), predation (n = 2), vehicle collisions (n = 1), and unknown (n = 4). Elevated survival of raccoons was indicative of highly suitable habitat and protection from harvest. Our study enhances the collective understanding of raccoon demographics and facilitates the construction of population models and management plans for unexploited raccoon populations.
- Subjects
ILLINOIS; RADIO telemetry; RACCOON; PREDATION; ANIMAL mortality; DEMOGRAPHIC surveys; PHYLOGENY; PARSIMONIOUS models; HEURISTIC
- Publication
Transactions of the Illinois State Academy of Science, 2009, Vol 102, Issue 3/4, p217
- ISSN
0019-2252
- Publication type
Article