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Correlation Of Raccoon Pelt Qualities With Age, Sex, And Physical Condition, Travis C. Glenn

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

Fur harvesters and fur buyers have many intuitive ideas about how raccoons' pelt qualities differ due to age, sex, or physical condition. We tried to demonstrate correlations between age classes (juvenile and adult), sex, and physical condition and the quality of raccoon pelts. Quality of pelts was described in three objective ways: size of the pelt, density of the pelage (primeness), and color of the pelage. Physical condition was measured by kidney fat index (KFI) and skin fat index (SFI). Size of the pelts was correlated with age, sex, and both measures of physical condition. Primeness of the pelts was …