WALKER: HABITAT USE BY RACCOONS


type found in the study area (i.e. in the minimum convex polygon of the locations
of all 20 raccoons). Fisher's LSD was used to determine which habitat types
accounted for differences observed (Conover 1980; Allredge and Ratti 1992).
 Chi-square goodness-of-fit tests were done between proportions of habitat
within each animal's home range (MCP) and the number of locations for that
animal in each habitat type. When a significant chi-square value was obtained,
Bonferroni confidence intervals (Byers et al. 1984) were calculated to determine
which habitat types were not being used in the expected proportions.
 The Friedman's and chi-square methods were both used because each has
different strengths and limitations (Allredge and Ratti 1986, 1992; White and
Garrott 1990). The Friedman's test assumes that locations of each animal are
independent of those of other animals but does not require independence of
locations of the same animal (Allredge and Ratti 1992). It gives equal weight to
each animal, regardless of the number of locations, and differences in individual
preferences can increase the probability of false significant tests (Allredge and
Ratti 1992). The chi-square test assumes that all locations of an individual animal
are independent (Allredge and Ratti 1992), but is not affected by individual
preferences.
 In this study, all animals used in the analysis had a similar number of
locations (50-65). Locations of different animals were assumed to be independent,
because there were few locations where different animals were together and these
were discarded for the analyses. Locations of many of the individual study animals
were not statistically independent (Walker 1993), however. Allredge and Ratti
(1992) recommend that if independence between locations is questionable, chi-
square analysis may still be used, but conclusions should be limited to the study
animals per se, and not extrapolated to other populations of the species.
 Mean number of habitat types in male and female home ranges was compared
using a t-test (Hintze 1987). Sex differences in mean proportions of different
habitat types per individual home range, sex differences in habitat use, and
differences in habitats used for foraging and resting were tested by chi-square tests
of independence (Hintze 1987; Ott 1988). Locations were classified foraging when
animals were known to be moving due to changes in locations between readings.
These movements could also include reproductive or other social activities.
 I wanted to determine if there were differences in the types of rest sites used
by male and female raccoons, so proportions of ground and tree rest sites used were
compared by sex using a binomial test (Hintze 1987; Ott 1988), and selection of
different types of tree rest-sites was compared using a chi-square test of
independence (Hintze 1987; Ott 1988). Mean DBH of trees used as rest sites by
each sex were compared with a t-test.
 Accuracy of locations obtained by triangulation from telemetry data is a
problem in habitat-use studies when the confidence ellipse of the location includes
more than one habitat type (White and Garrott 1986; Samuel and Kenow 1992).
In this study, most habitat patches were relatively large in relation to the degree of