Comparison from Radiotracking of Movements and Denning Habits of the Raccoon, Striped Skunk, and Opossum in Northeastern Kansas

A comparative study of spatial relationships of the opossum (Didelphis marsupialis), raccoon (Procyon lotor), and striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis) was made on the University of Kansas Natural History Reservation, an area of deciduous woodland, brush and grassland. Thirty-nine animals, including 27 opossums, eight raccoons and four skunks, were each equipped with small radio transmitters and were trailed to their dens over periods ranging from 2 to 239 days. Each animal was found to use a series of dens and each well-situated den was used by many different individuals. Sometimes two or several different animals used a den simultaneously; on one occasion an opossum and a skunk were known to have used the same den simultaneously over a period of days. Whereas raccoons and skunks are somewhat social, opossums are generally solitary and instances of known co-occupancy could be attributed either to chance or to sexual attraction. Average occupancy of a den was 1.5 days for the raccoons and 2.2 days for both skunks and opossums. The average shift between successive dens was 1430 feet for the raccoon, 1359 feet for the skunk and 990 feet for the opossum. The most used dens were underground and were situated along a hilltop limestone outcrop. Raccoons often spent the day in trees, sometimes in cavities but more often in exposed situations such as on top of the platform of an old squirrel nest. Sign indicated that the underground dens used by all three species were chiefly the work of the striped skunk.