EDWARDS ET AL.— MAMMAL ABUNDANCE AT FORT HOOD 
13 
® Dv | PI O Mm □ Ba [ "j Nf 
0.03 
W' Tlter Spring Summer Autumn 
Fig. 11. Capture means for the live most frequently captured medium-sized mammal species calculated for each 
season the survey was conducted. Species abbreviations are: Dv = Didelphis virginiana, PI - Procyon lotor. 
Mm = Mephitis mephitis , Ba = Bassariscus as tutus, and Nf = Neotoma floridana. 
were captured in Sav 1 (Fig. 5) as well as three captured 
in Upl 1 (Fig. 7), two were captured in Rip 1 (Fig. 10), 
while one eastern woodrat was captured in Upl 2 (Fig. 
8). Five feral cats were captured in Sav 2 (Fig. 4) and 
one was recorded in Sav 1 (Fig. 6). All captures («=3) 
of eastern spotted skunks were recorded in upland habi¬ 
tats with two captures recorded in Upl 1 (Fig. 7) and one 
capture in Upl 2 (Fig. 8). 
Military use appeared to have a direct effect on 
certain medium-sized mammal populations present, but 
no effect was detected in others. Most species seem to 
prefer low use Tather than high use sites. The only ex¬ 
ceptions were eastern spotted skunks and eastern 
woodrats, both with higher relative abundances in high 
use areas than in low use areas. 
In savannah habitats (Sav 1 and Sav 2), raccoons 
and ringtails were the only medium-sized mammals (of 
those analyzed) that showed significant differences be¬ 
tween the two use types. In both cases, relative abun¬ 
dance was significantly higher in the low use areas. All 
ringtail captures occurred in Sav 2 habitat. Military use 
appeared to affect relative abundances of opossums in 
riparian habitats as evident by more captures in low use 
areas, and appeared to have no significant effects on 
striped skunk populations present. 
This heterogenous response of mammals to mili¬ 
tary activity is consistent with a study by Gese et al. 
(1989). They found that coyotes at the Pinyon Canyon 
Maneuver Site, Colorado, responded to military maneu¬ 
vers by contracting, abandoning, or not changing their 
