01-04-2012, 02:43 PM
"A Vacant Niche?
Serious competition between the raccoon dog and other carnivores of similar size (red fox and badger) has not been observed. In fact, badger and red fox population densities increased slightly in southern Finland in the first half of the 1980's, even though raccoon dog numbers were rapidly increasing in the same area.
The diet of the red fox, badger and raccoon dog overlap to some extent since all three carnivores feed on items such as small mammals, invertebrates and plants. But the red fox specializes more on small mammals (voles), the raccoon dog on plant material (e.g. berries) and the badger on invertebrates (Ivanova, 1962; Kauhala et al., 1993). Thus, each species has a slightly different diet, which may help them to avoid competition.
Furthermore, at northern latitudes, competition for food is probably at its fiercest during the winter, when food is scarce. However, both badger and raccoon dog spend this season asleep, so there can be no food competition in winter.
The same three species may also compete for dens. The raccoon dog often uses old badger or fox dens, but both badger and fox tend to chase it away. Nonetheless, raccoon dogs are sometimes found in the same dens as badgers during the winter, possibly because the badger goes to the den earlier in autumn and wakes up later in spring, and so may not be aware that it is sharing the den with the raccoon dog."
Det er så det stik modsatte resultat af den danske vildtkonsulents konklusion...........der er åbenbart frit valg på alle hylder?
![[Image: bueskytte.png]](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v417/Intile/bueskytte.png)
Serious competition between the raccoon dog and other carnivores of similar size (red fox and badger) has not been observed. In fact, badger and red fox population densities increased slightly in southern Finland in the first half of the 1980's, even though raccoon dog numbers were rapidly increasing in the same area.
The diet of the red fox, badger and raccoon dog overlap to some extent since all three carnivores feed on items such as small mammals, invertebrates and plants. But the red fox specializes more on small mammals (voles), the raccoon dog on plant material (e.g. berries) and the badger on invertebrates (Ivanova, 1962; Kauhala et al., 1993). Thus, each species has a slightly different diet, which may help them to avoid competition.
Furthermore, at northern latitudes, competition for food is probably at its fiercest during the winter, when food is scarce. However, both badger and raccoon dog spend this season asleep, so there can be no food competition in winter.
The same three species may also compete for dens. The raccoon dog often uses old badger or fox dens, but both badger and fox tend to chase it away. Nonetheless, raccoon dogs are sometimes found in the same dens as badgers during the winter, possibly because the badger goes to the den earlier in autumn and wakes up later in spring, and so may not be aware that it is sharing the den with the raccoon dog."
Det er så det stik modsatte resultat af den danske vildtkonsulents konklusion...........der er åbenbart frit valg på alle hylder?