Home Range Size Of The Raccoon example essay topic

Raccoon Report Dylan Haines GENERAL OVERVIEW Raccoons (Procyon lot or) belong to the Procyonidae (those who came before the dogs' family). This highly intelligent mammal has a rounded head with a short nose, small ears, and a sturdy body with minimum-length, thick, grayish brown fur. Raccoons are easily identified by a distinctive pattern of alternating black and yellowish white rings around a large bushy tail. They are also identified by a unique narrow black face mask with two white patches above the eyes.

The average length is 2 to 3 feet long (including the tail) and 12 inches high, weigh 8 to 22 pounds (heaviest in autumn), and live for 10 to 13 years. Females produce one litter per year, numbering from one to six kilts and averaging four to five. SPECIAL FEATURES AND ADAPTATIONS Raccoons have had a long time to adjust and adapt to different surroundings. Raccoons have keen senses of smell and hearing. (Blashfield, 2004) They are strong and agile, hence good tree and fence climbers. Each foot has five long and slender digits, which operate with remarkable dexterity.

This was an adaptation developed for living in dense forests and heavy tree populated areas. In the wild, they use their front feet for finding food in water, opening shellfish, and conveying food to the mouth. In urban areas the raccoon has learned to dig through human garbage as a significant food source. In adapting to human habitat, they often apply this dexterity to opening garbage cans and pet food storage containers. GATHERING FOOD AND EATING Raccoons will eat just about anything. Although this statement is generally true, raccoons do have definite preferences.

Generally speaking, when fed by humans, they like peanuts, sweets, fruits, bread, peanut butter, and especially cat and dog food. Like feeding humans, though, don't overload them with treats -- make those for special occasions, and leave the healthier stuff for most of the time. In the wild the raccoon prefers: birds, rodents, crayfish, small reptiles, mollusks, bird eggs, grains, and small grass shoots. Raccoons have a wide variety in diet and are able to change it when necessary. MOVEMENT AND MIGRATION Raccoons do not migrate but they do move within a home range. They will not spend any more time on one portion of the home range than any other portion.

TERRITORIES AND DEFENSE Raccoons exhibit solitary social spacing with each adult raccoon remaining in its home range. They have home ranges rather than territories because with a very diverse diet the resources are not very defensible, and the home range that males require for mating purposes is too large to defend. Home range size of the raccoon is largely dependent on resource availability. Smaller home ranges are associated with more resource availability and larger home ranges with less resource availability. (Range, 2004) Home ranges for adult males are usually about 4,800 acres, but again this can vary with resource distribution as well as seasonal variations.

The home range for males will expand some during the mating season so males can find more females to mate with. (Graham, 2004) Also the sizes of home ranges vary according to the sex. Males have larger home ranges than females, because they have to cover more territory to ensure that their home range will encompass those of other females. Raccoons travel their home ranges evenly, and are not found on the edges any more than the other locations in the home range. SHELTER Raccoons live from South Central Canada, all throughout the United States, and into the Northern part of South America. They have also been introduced successfully in other areas like Russia and Japan.

Raccoons prefer forested habitats near bodies of water, but they are also found in grasslands, marshes, and urban settings. (Blashfield, 2004) The most common den used by raccoons is hollowed out tree cavities. In addition, they will use burrows, caves, barns, garages, sewers, and any building they can get access to. Den selection for raccoons is based mostly upon what is available, but there are trends of den selection by sex and times of the season.

Females use the tree cavities more often then the males, and this is believed to be due to the fact that the trees are better dens when they have young with them. The males will choose dens that are close to bodies of water in their home range, and this is likely due to the increased number of resources in these areas. Both sexes use rock dwellings more in the winter to escape the cold. The younger raccoons tend to use ground burrows more often, because these dens provide more protection form predators. All raccoons use ground burrows more in the fall, and for females in particular there is more use of wetlands from March to August and more use of the forests from September to December. MATING AND COURTSHIP Raccoons exhibit a polygynous mating system, which means males mate with multiple females, bur females only mate with one male.

Raccoons have all the characteristics that are generally associated with polygyny, including sexual dimorphism, delayed sexual maturity in males, and parental care exclusively from females. Males do not need to care for the babies so they move on and try to get as much mating in as possible before the mating season ends. After mating has occurred the gestation period for raccoons is 60 to 73 days. Then the females give birth to one to eight cubs, with an average of three or four cubs. COMMUNICATION? SOCIAL ORDER CARRYING OF THE YOUNG.