Sexual differences in home ranges of raccoons

Abstract

We monitored movements of 30 (11 male, 19 female) adult raccoons (Procyon lotor) from February 1990 to July 1992 on the Welder Wildlife Refuge, Texas, to identify differences in seasonal sizes of home range between males and females. Sizes of home range of males varied little (P > 0.05) among seasons, and males had larger (P < 0.05) home ranges than females in all seasons. There was considerable variation in size of home range among individual females; however, median sizes of home range for females did not change among seasons. Size of home ranges of males were larger (P < 0.05) than would be expected based on the relationship between body mass and size of home range in mammals and suggested that movements of males were not dictated solely by energetic requirements. Social behavior appears to play an important role in the size of home range of male raccoons.