Raccoon Densities across Four Land Cover Types in the Southeastern United States

Authors

Jocab E. Hill, University of GeorgiaFollow
James L. Helton, University of Georgia
David A. Bernasconi, University of Georgia
Wesley C. Dixon, University of Georgia
Matt T. Hamilton, Purdue University
Richard B. Chipman, United States Department of Agriculture, APHIS, National Rabies Management Program, Wildlife Services, Concord, New HampshireFollow
Amy T. Gilbert, United States Department of Agriculture, APHIS, National Wildlife Research Center, Wildlife Services, Fort Collins, ColoradoFollow
James C. Beasley, University of Georgia
Guha Dharmarajan, Krea University
Olin E. Rhodes Jr., University of Georgia

ORCID IDs

Hill http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2761-8786

Bernasconi http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2936-0566

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

2023

Citation

Journal of Wildlife Management (2023) 87: e22480

doi: 10.1002/jwmg.22480

Published by Wiley on behalf of the Wildlife Society

Comments

United States government work

Abstract

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 markrecapture 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.