Federal Aid Project No. W-99-R-2 Study XII: Raccoon Investigations Job No. 5: Cooperative Raccoon Collections

Sanderson, Glen C.

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/113649 Copy

Description

Title

Federal Aid Project No. W-99-R-2 Study XII: Raccoon Investigations Job No. 5: Cooperative Raccoon Collections

Author(s)

Sanderson, Glen C.

Issue Date

1990-07-19

Keyword(s)

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

Abstract

During the 1989-90 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 35 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. Temperatures were near normal for October and November, well below normal (-11 .6°F) for December, and quite warm in January (+13.3°F). Precipitation was near normal for November, December, and January. There has been little flooding during the past three raccoon hunting and trapping seasons. Snowfall was light during the 1989-90 season except for a total of 10.5 inches in December, 21 days in December with ~0.1 inch on the ground, and a maximum depth of 8 inches on the ground in December. Juveniles accounted for nearly 56% of the raccoons taken by hunters and trappers in 1989-90. The 35-year average was 66% juveniles. The mild winters in Illinois during the past several seasons (especially warm weather in January) are probably responsible for the higher than average percentage of adult raccoons taken during each of the past nine seasons. Weather conditions and wide fluctuations in fur prices, rather than a change in the population, are believed responsible for the age composition of the harvest during the past nine seasons. Females contributed 46.3% of the animals examined in 1989-90 compared with the 35-year average of 47.8%. Adult males contributed a significantly higher percentage of the adults examined after the middle of December than those examined in November and before the middle of December. The approaching breeding season, which results in increased activity, especially for adult males, is believed responsible for the seasonal difference in sex ratios. In most years, juvenile males also make up a significantly higher percentage of all juveniles caught late in the season than they do early in the season. During the past season there were more juvenile females examined late in the season than there were juvenile males: however, the sample sizes were small for all raccoons examined after the middle of December. The average litter size for the 1989 breeding season was 3.3, which is lower than the 35-year average (3.6), and is one of.the lowest figures found by this study. There is no trend in the average litter size for the past 35 seasons in Illinois. Body weights of all sex and age groups in 1989-90 were above the long term averages, although one might have anticipated that the colder than average weather and many days with snow cover would inhibit feeding by raccoons and result in lower than average body weights. Average weights of all raccoons, and most age and sex classes, have been higher than the 35-year mean for the past 10 seasons. Average weights of raccoons taken by hunters and trappers were not significantly different. Trappers caught only 11.4% of all raccoons examined in 1989-90; well below the 17-year average of 18.2%. The take by trappers has generally been declining 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. The total catch of raccoons in 1989-90 was approximately 83,300, down about 39.6% from the previous season and the lowest number reported since the 1971-72 season. The average pelt value was $4.00, a 31.2% decrease over the previous year.

Publisher

Illinois Natural History Survey

Series/Report Name or Number

• Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration W-99-R-2
• Glen Sanderson Collection no. 8296

Type of Resource

text

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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/113649

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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