Federal Aid Project No. W-99-R-4 Study XII: Raccoon Investigations Job No. 5: Cooperative Raccoon Collections

Sanderson, Glen C.

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/113648 Copy

Description

Title

Federal Aid Project No. W-99-R-4 Study XII: Raccoon Investigations Job No. 5: Cooperative Raccoon Collections

Author(s)

Sanderson, Glen C.

Issue Date

1992-07-24

Keyword(s)

• raccoons
• raccoon hunting
• raccoon trapping
• raccoon population surveys

Geographic Coverage

Illinois

Abstract

During the 1991-92 raccoon hunting and trapping seasons unskinned raccoons were examined and data collected every other week (when unskinned raccoons were available) at Perardi Bros. Fur and Wool, Inc., Farmington, Illinois. Similar collections have been made at the same place for the past 37 seasons. Data collected included body weight, body length, sex, how caught, condition of nipples for females and of the penis for males, general health, weight of the gonads, number of placental scars per uterus, presence of sperm in the epididymis, and age.Age was determined from the radius and ulna and penis bone and from tooth sections of animals that weighed ~12.0 lb and of parous females regardless of weight. Juveniles accounted for only slightly more than 42% of the raccoons taken by hunters and trappers in 1991-92. The 37-year average was 65.7% juveniles. The low demand for pelts of low quality was probably partially responsible for the low percentage of young animals reported in the harvest. Hunters and trappers avoid the small young animals when possible and fur buyers may not buy small young raccoons when the demand for pelts is low. Weather conditions and low prices for fur, rather than a change in the population, are believed responsible for the age composition of the harvest during the past ten seasons. Females contributed 36.6% of the animals examined in 1991-92 compared with the 37-year average of 47.4%. The average litter size for the 1991 breeding season was 3.6, which is the same as the 37-year average. There is no trend in the average litter size for the past 37 seasons in Illinois. Body weights of both male and female young-of-the-year raccoons in 1991-92 were below the long term averages, but adults of both sexes continued the trend of the past 11 seasons and were higher than the 37-year mean for the past 12 seasons. Average weights of raccoons taken by hunters and trappers were not significantly different. Trappers caught only 8.1% of all raccoons examined in 1991-92; well below the 19-year average of 17.2%. The percentage of the harvest taken by trappers has declined since the 1983-84 season; partly because high water prevented trappers from setting their traps in many areas they usually trapped in 1985-86 and 1986-87 and partly because of declining fur prices since the 1986-87 season, and especially since 1988-89. The total catch of raccoons in 1991-92 was approximately 174,500, an increase of 146.2% from the previous season and the highest number reported since the 1987-88 season. The average pelt value was $6.45, an increase of 118.6% over the previous year.

Publisher

Illinois Natural History Survey

Series/Report Name or Number

• Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration W-99-R-4
• Glen Sanderson Collection no. 8287

Type of Resource

text

Language

en

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/113648

Copyright and License Information

This document is a product of the Illinois Natural History Survey, and has been selected and made available by the Illinois Natural History Survey and the University Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It is intended solely for noncommercial research and educational use, and proper attribution is requested.

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