2 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 52 



Islands are about the same size as the animals of the neighboring 

 Mexican mainland. These islands are high and wooded and fresh 

 water occurs on them. 



Conditions are such, on practically all of the keys off the coast of 

 southern Florida, that the raccoons living on them have no access to 

 fresh water beyond the fortuitous opportunities that may occur 

 during a heavy rain. To this circumstance, many of the local trappers 

 believe, is due the smaller size of the animals of the islands, for they 

 say the larger, better furred animal of the mainland occurs where 

 permanent fresh water exists back from the shore. Along the south- 

 western shore of the peninsula these large fresh water " coons " are 

 said usually to keep about the fresh water but to come down to the 

 mangrove swamps along shore at certain seasons. The trappers 

 agreed, however, that they never cross to the adjacent keys, even in 

 the Ten Thousand Islands, some of which have only narrow, shallow 

 channels cutting them off from shore. 



In addition tO' their tendency to reduction in size the Key raccoons 

 have a distinct tendency toward duller and paler colors than the animals 

 of the mainland. The paleness is especially marked in the forms from 

 the Key Vaca and Big Pine Key Groups. 



The abundance of crabs, shellfish and other food provided by the 

 sea for the raccoons, would appear to remove the possible factor of 

 food shortage from the list of possible causes for the smaller size 

 among these animals. At the same time the absence of natural enemies 

 evidently gives favorable conditions for their increase and the ac- 

 counts given me of the amazing number of them trapped on the 

 keys, when the high prices of furs gave the incentive, make it ap- 

 parent that they must have been excessively numerous for an animal 

 of their size. Under natural conditions in the past, therefore, com- 

 petition for food may have been very strenuous for long periods. 



On the Ten Thousand Islands some of the trappers told me that 

 when the high prices for fur began single trappers sometimes took the 

 skins of more than 800 raccoons on the keys in a season but that, 

 owing to this severe trapping, it is difficult now for a man to get even 

 one-third of that number. Similar accounts of the former abundance 

 of raccoons on other keys off the coast were given me by trappers 

 elsewhere. Some of the trappers put out more than 100 traps and 

 settings of from 40 to 60 are common. The total catch of raccoons 

 for southern Florida and the keys must be very large. 



The measurements and weights in the flesh of the series collected 

 by me gave direct evidence that the female raccoons of that region, 

 in the flesh, weigh more than 20 per cent less than the males, and 



