UKC Forums - Scientific Paper on Procyon lotor

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Posted by Wild_BlueMan on 11-12-2009 11:40 PM:

Scientific Paper on Procyon lotor

Currently I am taking a class in Mammalogy and am required to do a scientific research paper. The species that I was able to choose is Procyon lotor or commonly known as the North American Raccoon. I have most of the stuff covered through some scientific studies.

What is hard to find is nocturnal movements, and feeding habits. Lots of knowledge on the diet, but not the conditions they are willing to feed in.
This is where I feel you good cooners can help me out with some of your experience such as:
Time of the night you have noticed your hounds tree the most.
Weather; wind, moon, rain etc. Heard some where the barometric pressure has an affect?
Where you find them; Corn field, Swamp, Stream or any combination in between.

I know that what is said, cannot be determined as "science" but it is a great start. Hope ya'll are willing to spread some experiences!

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Posted by Virgil on 11-12-2009 11:59 PM:

Two things I can say pretty confidently about coon behavior and thats it.

The first is that for whatever reason coons love to stir in light rain showers. Seems like on the nights where there is a steady drizzle or light rain the coon just move better.

The second is that coons dont move well in a full moon when the moon is high and bright in the sky. On full moon nights coon will move normally until the moon gets high and then they will again in the last hour or two before sunrise. I have noticed this behavior from following the coons on my game camera's that I keep up on my feeders.

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Posted by pigsit on 11-13-2009 02:34 AM:

I have a thesis paper that was done on the movements of coon during a controlled time, and if I can find it I can possibly make it available to you. It's filed and I just have to round it up. Tom

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Posted by Larry Atherton on 11-13-2009 03:18 PM:

Have you used Goggle Scholar search engine? Search raccoon research or raccoon studies. I have many years experience trapping and hunting coons, and I am a biologist. Scientific research is always interesting, but is also almost always lacking in its application to the animal.

Did you know that raccoon's intelligence level is equal to that of a rhesus monkey? They are truly amazing animals. If you have any specific questions, drop me an email. Good luck on your paper.

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Posted by Wild_BlueMan on 11-13-2009 06:43 PM:

Mr. Atherton,
Thank you for your response. I have collected most of the "raw" data, but most of the studies center on only small populations within urban or "non-controled habitat."

Like you said, the aplication of the studies is hard to use.
Documentation of movements by radiotelematry only shows that the raccoon goes from point A to point B, was killed on a road, eaten by a bear etc. The studies never seem to make the correlation between movement and weather, time of night, seasonal harvest, or things that would help us tree more!
Most documentation is conducted on established feeder stations in riparian area's, close to standing trees, and the numbers visiting in pairs or families. (Coons are thought to be solitary, non social omnivores) I would like to know where hunters have had the most luck treeing coon, and factors that help. (#1 a good coondog) Basically it all comes down to movement, and when they do it.

Posted by Larry Atherton on 11-13-2009 09:13 PM:

Their movements change through out the year and is very dependant on available food sources and many different environmental factors i.g. tides, extreme heat or cold, and breeding season to name a few. Some of those environmental factors are understood and others are not. Coons are not strictly solitary animals.

In fact, there is very interesting infra-red recordings of raccoons and trapping success being done by an ADC outfit down south. A live raccoon in a set is a much bigger attraction than any bait or lure. Many trappers are changing their practices to gang setting foot hold traps to increase their success rates.

Push comes to shove raccoon behavior has completely stumped me over the years. Many times what I believe will be a good night is a bad night and vise versa. I put it all down to the Harvard Law of Animal Behavior. An animal will most of the time do exactly what we don't expect it to do or want it to do.

Some times I think coon behavior is as much a product of their curiosity as anything else.

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Posted by Wild_BlueMan on 11-14-2009 02:59 AM:

Your probably right

My thought seems to be the same as yours. I know some nights going to the woods, conditions seem to be "perfect" and all that is found is a dog that went to deep to find something. Other nights your wondering why you decided to try it, and your on top of them. Based on the research I can see your point in not being able to study them and make a corelation to other factors. Two papers of interest were the studies done by Sharp and Sharp and published in 1956. They found there was a correlation of numbers of coon attending a feeder, and time of night. But other factors were not figured in, so some don't accept the info. Another study I read dealth with times they are most active, and it seems to go in about 3 stages during the night. A little after dusk, and about every three hours after. Most are back to the den roughtly 4 hours before sunrise. Again this may be debated. Found some good stuff on the social structures also. Seems as though travel is almost always in groups of 2-4. And the "average" home range is about 1 sq mile.
I would imagine much of the information is never published, due to the hypothesis being disproven. Next question I could possibly ask you is the denning behavior.

Posted by Larry Atherton on 11-14-2009 04:21 PM:

Denning behavior is actually driven by available den locations. In and around cities many people cut down den trees. So raccoons use fireplaces and attics as a common replacement. This is the bases for much of the ADC businesses out there today. They have also learned to den in the sewers.

They also use wood chuck holes where trees are absent. They are also a huge problem for farmers when they take residence up in barns. I know I once removed 36 from one barn. I have seen several den trees so full of coons that the top one was sticking out.

I believe as far as small game animals that the raccoon has more economic impact than any others, and that they may actually rival many other more popular game animals.

Is there anything specific about denning behavior you are looking for?

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Posted by Wild_BlueMan on 11-14-2009 06:40 PM:

Yes,
How far from water will raccoons normally den? Through studies it has been found that they never venture far from a water source. Also what is the prefered type of den for male, female, and juvinile? One report said males prefer barns, females, tree's and juvinile's take what is left.
Studies have also shown that the range extention has increased further north. What is one of your hypothesis to this? The studies seem to attibute this to two variables. One-Global warming, the other is seed crop growth furthur north. Primarily wheat production.
One more, being a meso-predator what is the effect of raccoons on ground nesting birds? What are the predators of raccoons other than hunters and cars?
Thank you so much for your information thus far. What is your area of expertise?
For me I am completing classes for teacher licensure in MN. Attended Casper College and Colorado State University and was a high school Ag instructor and FFA advisor for two years. Now just have to finish more credits for permanent licensure. Thought that would maybe give you an idea me.
Thanks

Posted by Larry Atherton on 11-16-2009 03:55 AM:

I have seen coons den as far as a 1/2 mile from a water source, but I do not have definitive information regarding denning and water distances.

"One report said males prefer barns, females, tree's and juvinile's take what is left." Statements like these really bother me when it comes to scientific publications. A researcher should never make such a statement without first acknowledging habitat types where their data was collected. Habitat type would likely have a large influence on denning behavior.

Some where along the way the scientific method has been lost. A study if done right should suggest an answer, and most usually more questions. One study was never meant to be proof. I better stay a way from this soap box.

Coons are very efficient bird and egg predators. There are many studies that back up that fact.

Coyotes can and will take a raccoon when the opportunity allows it. I will follow up withan e-mail tomorrow.

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Posted by Wild_BlueMan on 11-17-2009 05:19 AM:

Thanks for the info. One bit of information that is hard to find is the locomation of the species. Found lots of stuff on eye sight, and their ability to use their hands the same way that primates do. Just cannot seem to find the info on the benefits of their locomotion.
I do agree with you on the denning. And like you said it is hard to take the info from only one source and profess it as genuine. The hard part seems to be finding studies that were done in different area's that seem to corelate the same information. Keep the info coming, and I will keep on reading these discertations and studies.
Thanks,
Nick

Posted by l.lyle on 11-17-2009 06:06 AM:

Supposedly there are 9 subspecies to include the woodland and marsh coons of the southest, which are tidally influenced. Unless you stick to one, the 'Movement part" probably ain't figurable.

Posted by Wild_BlueMan on 11-19-2009 03:56 AM:

quote:
Originally posted by l.lyle
Supposedly there are 9 subspecies to include the woodland and marsh coons of the southest, which are tidally influenced. Unless you stick to one, the 'Movement part" probably ain't figurable.

The papers that I come across seem to show that the only sub-species are isolated island populations, and within those populations there has been enough infusion of mainland DNA to question their status of a separate sub-species. The other is procyon carncrivorous located in South America. Raccoons were originally classified as "Ursius lotor Linnea's," a species related more to bears than procyon's, based on the classification system of the times. Later research wanted to classify raccoons within the family of Primates due to the use of "hands."
According to research on mitochondrial DNA sequencing, the question has been posed that all raccoons located in certain geographic regions of North America show some different variations within their DNA, but not enough to be considered a "sub-species."
The marsh coons that you mention are said to have different movement patterns due to more ecological factors. Scientific studies seem to indicate that you are totally 100% correct when it comes to defining a movement pattern. There seems to be no scientific correlation between time, weather, season, and moon phase that will determine the movement of Raccoons. Guess it goes to show that those old houndsmen learned how to "feel" the right conditions based on experience within an area.

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