Abstract
Samples of excrement of Meles meles anakuma in Mt. Nyugasa, Nagano Pref. were collected in order to research into their feeding habits. The diet was mainly composed of worms, insects, seeds & fruits, small terrestrial mammals, and man-made foods. We studied the correlations between the frequency with which these typical foods appeared, seasonal fluctuations in quantities, and fluctuations in the extant amounts within the research area.
Worms are the most important element of M. m. anakuma's diet, but, depending on the season, it can also adapt flexibly to fluctuations in extant quantities of other usable food stuffs. It seems that it adapts to fluctuations in the extant amounts of seeds & fruits, insects, and microtinae, and supplements its total food intake accordingly with man-made foods that can be easily eaten.
