Influence of Scabies to Body Size in the Raccoon Dog Nyctereutes procyonoides around Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan

Abstract

Influence of scabies infection to body size variation of raccoon dog Nyctereutes procyonoides was investigated around Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Seasonal changes in body weight are recognized, with a tendency to increase in winter and decrease in summer. Such tendency is not seen in individuals suffering from scabies. Since some individuals without scabies infection was smaller in body weight than some scabies-infected individuals in summer, direct cause of death in scabies infected individuals may not be extreme starvation. Difference of body weight between individuals with/without scabies infection in winter suggest that direct cause of death in scabies infected individuals are freeze to death due to low fat accumulation in winter. In the correlation test among the measurement items indicating morphological sizes, significant correlations were found between all measurement pairs, but correlations were weak. These correlation patterns may not be affected by morphological distortion caused by scabies. Small correlation between size indicating measurements in raccoon dog can be one of the important morphological characteristics in this species.