Life Sciences Commons^™

Movement Ecology And Activity Behavior Of Black Bears In The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, David L. Garshelis

Masters Theses

Movements and activity behavior of 29 radio-collared black bears (Ursus americanus) were monitored between July 1976 and December 1977 in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Many bears exhibited home ranges with abrupt seasonal changes, especially between summer and fall. The timing and extent of these range shifts were influenced by sex, age and food availability. During good mast years, the fall ranges of many males overlapped considerably in an area of abundant oaks, while during poor mast years, social intolerance may force many subordinate males outside the Park boundaries in search of food. Fall movements increased the …

Some Aspects Of The Natural History Of The Raccoon (Procyon Lotor) In Cades Cove, The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, William Eugene Keeler

Masters Theses

A study was conducted from January 1973 to April 1974 to determine the density and distribution of the raccoon (Procyon lotor) population in the Cades Cove area of The Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Raccoons were live-trapped, anesthetized with Sernylan, ear-tagged, aged, weighed and measured. Beginning in April 1973 an epizootic of canine distemper occurred in the raccoon population in Cades Cove, enabling this study to demonstrate the impact of an epizootic on a raccoon population.

During 2870 trap nights, 217 raccoons were captured, of which 106 were recaptures. The 111 individual raccoons captured consisted of 48 males …