Does Intraguild Avoidance Occur in Mesocarnivores? Temporal Activity Pattern Analysis of Mesocarnivores in Southcentral Oklahoma

Abstract

Camera trapping has been increasingly used to monitor different ecological aspects of wildlife, specifically for elusive, large carnivores. Relatively few studies have been conducted on temporal activity overlap between mesocarnivore species using camera-traps, and no such studies have been done in Oklahoma. My study was conducted at Oka’ Yanahli Preserve (OYP), located in Johnston County, southcentral Oklahoma. Camera traps were used to collect photographs of mesocarnivores in the preserve during winter (November 2016 – February 2017) and summer (May – August 2017). Six remotely-triggered infra-red cameras were deployed for 4 weeks. After 4 weeks, cameras were moved to different, random locations. Half of the cameras were systematically baited using canned mackerel. A total of 1531 mesocarnivore pictures from winter and 1455 from summer were taken from 25 camera locations in winter and 18 camera locations in summer. Mesocarnivore species identified from both seasons were coyote, raccoon, bobcat, Virginia opossum, and striped skunk. Temporal activity densities were higher for all species during winter than in summer (Circular Kernel Density Estimates) and all species were mostly nocturnal during winter. Temporal activities overlapped largely (?>0.7) between all species in winter, except for skunk. Contradictory, the data show that mesocarnivore species present in this preserve do not necessarily avoid each other, rather they co-exist through resource