Wyoming Trapping Update

As work gets started in Vancouver, Christina, our doctoral student at the University of Wyoming, continues our work on the raccoon population in Laramie, WY. Last summer, Christina and her project ran our yearly trap, tag, and release program to gather biological data and mark individuals in the Laramie population. Here are some stats on this years trapping season:

o   28 Raccoons trapped

o   24 New animals trapped, 4 animals recaptured from previous years

o   14 Females, 14 Males

o   15 Adults, 13 juveniles

o   Largest raccoon was 12.66 kg or 27.9 lbs which was a large healthy adult male

o   Smallest raccoons was 2.3 kg or 5 lbs which was a healthy juvenile female

During trapping season Christina and her team also trapped a very unique juvenile male who was nearly completely white (if a little dirty). Pictured in this update’s thumbnail, this male is not truly albino as his eyes are dark and not pink. This means he still produces melanin and is likely leucistic or naturally very light in color. This unique raccoon has been a favorite of the Laramie public over the last few months as he is very distinctive!

Stay tuned in the next few months for an update on the trapping program in Vancouver.