EDWARDS ET AL.—- MAMMAL ABUNDANCE AT FORT HOOD 
11 
Table 1. Number of captures per medium-sized mammal species for each season trapping was con¬ 
ducted at Fort Hood Military Post, Texas, 1995-97. 
Area 
Winter 
Spring 
Summer 
Autumn 
Sav2 
1 Procyon to tor 
1 Mephitis mephitis 
5 Bassariscus as tutus 
3 Procyon lotor 
1 Mephitis mephitis 
6 Didelphis virginiana 
2 Felis catus 
1 Bassariscus as tutus 
6 Procyon lotor 
3 Felis catus 
1 Sciurus niger 
3 Procyon lotor 
5 Bassariscus as tut us 
Sav 1 
1 Procyon lotor 
1 Neotoma jloridana 
2 Didelphis virginiana 
2 Procyon lotor 
1 Mephitis mephitis 
4 Didelphis virginiana 
1 Felis catus 
1 Procyon lotor 
4 Didelphis virginiana 
1 Procyon lotor 
1 Mephitis mephitis 
2 Neotoma Jloridana 
4 Didelphis virginiana 
UpM 
9 Mephitis mephitis 
1 Didelphis virgin kina 
2 Neotoma Jloridana 
1 Spilogale putorius 
1 Mephitis mephitis 
1 Didelphis virginiana 
4 Mephitis mephitis 
1 Didelphis virginiana 
1 Procyon lotor 
1 Neotoma Jloridana 
l Spilogale putorius 
1 Mephitis mephitis 
1 Sciurus niger 
Upl 2 
1 Procyon lotor 
1 Sylvilagus florid anus 
1 Procyon lotor 
3 Mephitis mephitis 
1 Didelphis virginiana 
2 Procyon lotor 
1 Spilogale putorius 
2 Mephitis mephitis 
1 Procyon lotor 
1 Neotoma Jloridana 
3 Mephitis mephitis 
Rip 2 
1 0 Didelphis virgin iana 
6 Didelphis virginiana 
7 Didelphis virginiana 
1 Mephitis mephitis 
1 Didelphis virginiana 
1 Procyon lotor 
Rip 1 
1 Procyon lotor 
1 Mephitis mephitis 
4 Procyon lotor 
3 Didelphis virginiana 
1 Mephitis mephitis 
4 Didelphis virginiana 
1 Procyon lotor 
2 Neotoma Jloridana 
1 Sylvilagus Jloridanus 
Total 
35 med-sized mammals 
44 med-sized mammals 
39 med-sized mammals 
31 med-sized mammals 
among tine years the surveys were conducted. Inability vegetative cover, differential death and/or birth rates, and/ 
to describe any trends in raccoon numbers could be or human error in sampling, 
caused by food availability from year to year, degree of 
DISCUSSION 
Mark-recapture studies have proved useful in de¬ 
termining densities of medium-sized mammal species 
for a given area (Greenwood et al., 1985; Kennedy et al. f 
1985; Kennedy et al., 1986). Although such techniques 
have proved successful in estimating densities, certain 
assumptions must be met for validity (Seber, 1982). Be¬ 
cause of the low number of individuals captured (n= 149), 
as well as the lack of success in recapturing previously 
marked individuals («=10), mark-recapture data in this 
study could not be used to determine densities of me¬ 
dium-sized mammal species present. This low sample 
size in each sampling area violates the assumption of 
mark-recapture density estimation models (of closed 
populations) which states, “the proportion of marked in¬ 
dividuals in the second sample is a reasonable estimate 
of the unknown population proportion” (Seber, 1982), 
Likewise, no area sampled met the minimum number of 
different individuals observed (n= 25) in order for a valid 
estimation ofdensity to be calculated (Otis et al., 1978; 
White et al., 1982; Smith and Brisbin, 1984). Further¬ 
more, mark-recapture studies usually involve trapping of 
a location for 8 to 12 consecutive nights to achieve ad- 
