Raccoon densities across four land cover types in the southeastern United States

Hill, Jacob E.; Helton, James L.; Bernasconi, David A.; Dixon, Wesley C.; Hamilton, Matt T.; Chipman, Richard B.; Gilbert, Amy T.; Beasley, James C.; Dharmarajan, Guha; Rhodes Jr., Olin E.

doi:10.1002/jwmg.22480

Raccoon densities across four land cover types in the southeastern United States

Journal Article · Thu Aug 17 00:00:00 EDT 2023 · Journal of Wildlife Management

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/jwmg.22480· OSTI ID:1996066

^[1]; Helton, James L. ^[1]; ^[1]; Dixon, Wesley C. ^[1]; Hamilton, Matt T. ^[2]; Chipman, Richard B. ^[3]; Gilbert, Amy T. ^[4]; Beasley, James C. ^[1]; Dharmarajan, Guha ^[5]; Rhodes Jr., Olin E. ^[1]

Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States). Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (SREL); Univ. of Georgia, Aiken, SC (United States)
Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States)
US Dept. of Agriculture (USDA), Concord, CA (United States)
US Dept. of Agriculture (USDA), Fort Collins, CO (United States)
Krea University, Sri City, AP (India)

Raccoons (Procyon lotor) are the primary reservoir for rabies virus in eastern North America. Management of rabies in raccoons is achieved primarily with the use of oral rabies vaccination (ORV) and effective ORV bait densities are determined in part by the densities of raccoons. Decisions regarding ORV bait densities, however, are limited by an incomplete understanding of raccoon densities across the spectrum of landscapes they occupy. We carried out a mark-recapture study of raccoons on the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, USA, from 2017–2019, to develop sex- and landscape-specific raccoon density estimates across 4 rural land cover types in the southeastern United States: bottomland hardwood, riparian forest, isolated wetland, and upland pine (Pinus spp.). We captured 404 unique raccoons 773 times over the 3-year trapping period. Estimated densities were 5.44 ± 0.37 (SE) animals/km² in bottomland hardwood forest, 2.62 ± 0.32 animals/km² in riparian forest, 2.19 ± 0.29 animals/km² in isolated wetlands, and 2.14 ± 0.23 animals/km² in upland pine. Densities were significantly higher in bottomland hardwood than all other land cover types, whereas densities among the remaining cover types were similar. These patterns are likely the result of landscape fragmentation and configuration, with riparian forests typically embedded in a matrix of less suitable cover types, leading to low densities despite presumably high resource availability. There were higher densities of males than females in every cover type except upland pine, where the sex ratio was balanced. Densities on our site were low compared to other rural areas, which likely results from the lack of human influence in terms of agriculture or development. The financial cost of baiting for ORV distribution may be reduced by considering the comparatively low densities of raccoons in these rural landscapes in the southeastern United States.

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Research Organization:: Univ. of Georgia, Athens, GA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDA; USDOE; USDOE Office of Environmental Management (EM)

Grant/Contract Number:: EM0004391

Other Award/Contract Number:: 17-7488-1290-CA
18-7488-1290-CA
19-7488-1290-CA
20-7488-1290-CA
21-7488-1290-CA

OSTI ID:: 1996066

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1996067
OSTI ID: 2575908

Journal Information:: Journal of Wildlife Management, Journal Name: Journal of Wildlife Management Journal Issue: 8 Vol. 87; ISSN 1937-2817; ISSN 0022-541X

Publisher:: WileyCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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