Grace Lehinger-Winden

In practicing wildlife management and conservation in an urban context, it is critical to consider the effects humans have on that urban wildlife. Because urbanization is increasing worldwide, sprawl further fragments and reduces natural habitat and increases the number of predators and mesopredators that find themselves interacting with humans and in closer proximity and competition to sympatric species. Because the perceived threat level assigned to human presence by each species is enough to alter movement and behavior in predators via a Landscape of Fear, the behavioral response of two mesopredator species, the Virginia Opossum (Didelphis virgiania) and Common Raccoon (Procyon lotor) was analyzed. Automated behavioral response (ABR) audio playback experiments were incorporated via a pair of audio-emitting devices connected to trail cameras and placed in 11 natural areas in the Twin Cities and surrounding metro. The cameras were triggered by movement, after which <10 second audio treatments were played at a normalized amplitude. 9 treatments were used, consisting of three human vocalizations (superpredator), three Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) vocalizations (predator/competitor), and three Screech Owl vocalizations (control). The results indicate that Raccoons employ a flight response to the presence of human vocalizations at a greater rate than the presence Red Fox or Screech Owl vocalizations, and employ this response more frequently than Virginia Opossums to any auditory stimulus. These results will broaden our understanding of both top-down effects of predators on their surroundings as well as how human presence impacts urban socio-ecological systems, and potentially mitigation of negative impacts towards predators.