Federal Aid Project No. W-99-R-1 Study XII: Raccoon Investigations Job No. 5: Cooperative Raccoon Collections

During the 1988-89 raccoon hunting and trapping seasons unsklnned raccoons were exanined and data collected every other week (when unskinned raccoons were available) at Perardl Bros. Fur and Wool, Inc., Farmington, llllnols. Similar collections have been made at the same place for the past 34 seasons. Data collected Included body weight, body length, sex, how caught, condition of nipples for females and of the pents for males, general health, weight of the gonads, nunber of placental scars per uterus, presence of sperm In the epldidymls, and age. Age was determined from the radius and ulna and penis bone and will be determined fran tooth sections of animals that weighed ~12.0 lb and parous females regardless of weight. Temperatures were generally above normal during the 1988-89 hunting and trapping season. Precipitation was above average In November, near average In December, and a I lttle below average In January. There was little flooding during either the 1987-88 or 1988-89 season. SnowfalI was Iight except for a total of 4.6 Inches In December, but only 3 days In December with ~0.1 Inch on the ground and only 1 day with ~1.0 Inch on the ground. Juveniles accounted for mere than 59% of the raccoons taken by hunters and trappers In 1988-89. The 34-year average was 67% Juveniles. The mild winters In Illinois during the past several seasons are probably responsible for the higher than average percentage of adult raccoons taken during each of the past eight seasons. Weather conditions, rather than a change In the population, are bel leved responsible for the age composition of the harvest during the past eight seasons. Females contributed 47 .77% of the animals examined In 1988-89 compared wlh the 34-year average of 48.02%. Adult males made up a significantly higher percentage of the adults examined after the middle of December than those exantned In Novanber 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 al I 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 smalI for alI raccoons examined after the middle of December. The average Iitter size for the 1988 breeding season was 3.83, which Is only a Iittle above the 34-year average (3.57). There Is no trend In the average I ttter size for the past 34 seasons Ii Illinois. Body weights of alI sex and age groups In 1988-89 were at or above the long term averages; probably a reflection of the warmer than normal weather In November and December 1988 and January 1989, which required smaller anounts of food for body maintenance, al lowed raccoons to continue to feed during the season, and permitted Juveniles to continue to grow. Average weights of alI raccoons, and most age and sex classes, have been higher than the 34-year mean for the past 9 seasons. Average weights of raccoons taken by hunters and trappers were not slgnlflcantly different. Trappers caught only 8.85% of all raccoons examined In 1988-89; the lowest percentage of the past 16 seasons. 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 lower fur values sane seasons. The total catch of raccoons In 1988-89 was approximately 137,800, down about 47.3% from the previous season. The average pelt value was about $6.40, a 54.6% decrease over the previous year.unpublishednot peer reviewedOpe