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

Abstract

The 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.