Procyon lotor

28 p. : ill. ; 26 cm.Includes bibliographical references (p. 26-28)."Each of seven raccoons was located by radiotelemetry at about 15 minute intervals over five to 18 days on St. Catherines Island, Georgia, in 1977 and 1978. About 3000 locations provide data on habitat use, rates of movement, routes of travel, and home range estimates. Raccoons favor areas with more oak trees when active at night and inland areas with more pine trees when inactive by day. In summer, resting sites are more often in trees. In winter, palmetto thickets on the ground are often used. Greatest activity is in the early hours of darkness but activity continues all night and infrequently during the day. Males cover more ground than females. Average minimum rates of travel (5 to 10 m./min.) from telemetry data are less than actual rates at a slow walk (25 m./min.), so the animals do not travel continuously for more than a few minutes at a time. They do not usually follow the same routes repeatedly. They cover a large part of the home range each few days. Our 'hypothesis of familiarization' is that an animal frequently visits all parts of its home range and a related 'plateau of familiarity hypothesis' is that the animal may have nearly the same operational familiarity with all parts of its home range"--P. [1]