05/01/2006 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Search

Figure 15: Multiple adjacent stems on this American Basswood (Tilia Americana) may have facilitated climbing by a raccoon. The large arrows show a pattern of scratches m the painted flashing that reveal the path taken past this guard. Raccoon radio - telemetry 2005 — Peltier Island colony: Radio telemetry of local raccoons proved to be very informative. These animals were captured and collared in early March of 2005. Radio tracking proceed immediately with 2 -5 locations taken per week. Overall 14 different den locations were located on the island. About one week after being collared, all marked animals left the island and spent the early spring on the eastern shore of Peltier Lake. This section of lakeshore is predominantly urban residential neighborhood. In the first week of April, 2005, just before ice -out and close to the time the females were to give birth, all collared females returned to Peltier Island. Scat samples taken from the island at this time revealed a large amount of bird seed, most likely from suburban bird feeders along the mainland. The females stayed on Peltier Island until after July 4th and then began crossing back and forth to and from the mainland. This pattern eventually stopped when the females again spent the majority of their time on the eastern lakeshore. In late fall, several of the females returned to den on the island. It should be noted that an ongoing mark/recapture program for raccoons was being undertaken on Peltier Island throughout the 2005 season as well. A grand total of 11 raccoons were captured and three dead raccoons found. Preliminary analysis suggests a relatively low density of raccoons residing on the island which is consistent with the low availability of food (other than heron chicks). However, seasonal movement and the absence of territoriality in raccoons lends a high degree of uncertainty to this estimate. 14 • •