Survival and cause-specific mortality of adult raccoons in central Mississippi

The raccoon (Procyon lotor) provides recreational. aesthetic, and economic benefits throughout its range. Knowledge of survival and cause-specific mortality is necessary to understand dynamics of raccoon populations and enable effective management. Additionally: sportsmen in many Southeastern states have expressed interest in a summer raccoon hunting season; however, information on effects of slimmer hunting on raccoon survival and cause-specific mortality are unavailable. Consequently, we radiotracked 176 adult raccoons central Mississippi during 1991-97. Annual survival differed (P = 0.031) between males (0.63 +/- 0.09; (x) over bar +/- SE) and females (0.50 +/- 0.10). Annual survival varied among years for males (P < 0.01), but not for females (P = 0.117). Cause of death was known for 55% of raccoon mortalities; legal harvest accounted for most (58%) known deaths. Annual survival did not differ (P = 0.356) between raccoons in the summer hunting (0.60 +/- 0.06) and control (0.69 +/- 0.06) areas. However, patterns of mortality varied between the summer hunting and control areas (P < 0.001), and seasonally (P = 0.003). Our data suggest implementing a summer raccoon hunting season with conservative bag limits will not reduce raccoon populations by reducing annual survival.