WALKER: HABITAT USE BY RACCOONS


Table 1. Proportion of total land area (1123 ha) represented by different habitat types within a minimum
convex polygon of all raccoons located 50 times, and rank of preference by raccoons according to
Friedman's test, Ordway Preserve, November 1991-May 1992.


Habitat Proportion of Area Rank

Sandhill .40 5
Hammock .19 2
Swamp .18 1
Old field .18 4
Clear water fringe .02 3
Wet prairie .02

* Wet prairie was found on the edges of the study area and no raccoons were located in it.



with males using sandhill more than expected and females less than expected. The
habitats also were used differently for foraging and resting (Z2 = 48.77, df = 4 and
p < 0.001). Again, the sandhill was the largest contributor to the chi-square value,
being used more than expected for foraging and less than expected for resting. The
swamp was used less than expected for foraging and more than expected for
resting, and the clear-water-lake meadows were used more than expected for
foraging.
 Overall trap success averaged 28.5%. Significant differences in trap success
 between closed-canopy and open-canopy sites were found in November (p = 0.01),
 February (p = 0.02), and May (p = 0.02), with greater trap success in closed-
 canopy sites. In August, trap success did not differ between the two types of sites
 (p = 0.98).


 Rest Sites



 In all habitats combined, 91.1% of the rest sites located were in trees.
 Animals were located on the ground or underground only in the swamp and
 hammock. Ground rest sites were under elevated root masses or in thick
 vegetation, such as palmetto, Virginia willow, or blackberry bushes. The exact
 location of 29 of the 143 rest sites in trees could not be determined due to poor
 visibility. For the remaining arboreal locations, six types of rest sites were
 identified, the most frequent (34.2%) being nests of fox and gray squirrels (Sciurus
 niger and S. carolinensis) (Table 4).