Yuiti Ono

Mating behaviors, courtship rank and mating success of male feral cat (Felis catus)

The mating behavior of the male feral cat (Felis catus) living on a small island was investigated. The cats in the study area (6.0 ha) formed the “feeding groups” at the garbage sites (Yamane et al. 1994; Izawa et al. 1982). We examined the factors influencing fighting ability, rank during courtship, and mating success of the male cat. Males with heavier body weight mostly won over lighter males in the agonistic encounters during the estrous season. Heavier males occupied the more advantageous positions to copulate with the estrous females and had higher mating success. These results suggest that body weight was one of the important factors affecting the courtship rank and the mating success of the male cat. When males visited and courted the females of feeding groups other than their own, they were sometimes defeated by the lighter males in that particular group, which lowered their courtship rank and success in copulations. These results indicate that the location of the courting male (inside or outside of its own group) and the kind of females they courted (member of the same group or not) were also important factors.

Sexual Differences in Foraging Behavior of Sika Deer, Cervus nippon

We compared the foraging behavior of five age-sex classes of sika deer ( Cervus nippon nippon ) in grasslands in Nozaki Island, Japan. Seasonal changes in feeding time and food plants were greater for males than for females. For males, feeding time decreased and time allocated to social activities increased with age in the breeding season. In spring, when antlers of deer began to regrow, adult males spent more time feeding on plants with high ash contents than did younger males and females. In winter, males spent more time feeding on plants with high protein content than did females. The trend was much different from that reported in many previous investigations, perhaps because of abundant food in our study area, which was at a low latitude.

Seasonal change in the food habits of the Iriomote catFelis iriomotensis

The food habits of the Iriomote catFelis iriomotensis were studied by analyzing 177 feces collected monthly from 1987 to 1988. A total of 26 food items were identified. The frequency of lizards and frogs in the feces was higher than those of mammals and birds. The food habits changed greatly seasonally.Eumeces skinks were fed on most frequently, and found in the feces with a similar high frequency occurrence in March–April and July–September, while their proportion to the total number of food items was larger in March–April than in July–September. The cats fed on larg-sized skinks, adultEumeces kishinouyei, more in March–April than in other seasons. The number of skinks sighted in the course of a road census was greater from March to August, and large-sized skinks were sighted more in March–April than in July–August. The cats fed selectively on large-sized skinks in every season. Therefore, changes in the food habits depended on the food availability. Characteristics of food habits in the Iriomote cat are discussed in comparison with the food habits of other felids in temperate and tropical regions.

Den distribution and den use by the red foxVulpes vulpes japonica in Kyushu

The distribution of dens and den use by the red fox was studied in Kumamoto Prefecture between 1968 and 1982. A total of 80 dens were classified into natal, residential, and temporarily-visited dens. Natal dens comprised 12.4% of all dens. Relative proportions were quite stable for a long period. This indicates a constant number of reproducing females in the area for a considerable length of time. Seasonally the utilization of den showed three peaks in February, May and October. The peaks coincided well with the peaks of reproductive activity of female foxes. The results of multiple regression analysis of distribution of dens with respect to selected environmental parameters around densites indicated that the fox selectively utilize open land, rather than densely vegetated areas. The persistence of dens, the selective utilization by foxes of open land and the sizes of dens were all related to the breeding activities of female foxes inhabiting the area. Reproductive females usually used plural dens (“den group”) in one reproductive season. The numbers of those females occuring in the area were maintained at a steady level for fairy long periods. These indicate that the existence of a stable social relationship between females mediated through occupancy of “den groups.”

Spatial relationship among individuals of the Japanese lacertid Takydromus tachydromoides(Sauria,Lacertidae)

The home range ofTakydromus tachydromoides was studied in a grassland area from April 1977 to November 1978. The mean size of home range did not differ markedly between sexes; 136.5 m2 for males and 130.8 m2 for females. Home ranges of adults overlapped greatly in each sex, and the lizard was considered to be non-territorial. Individuals showed return movement to a definite area (sleeping site) within the home range, and the home range did not shift within a year or between years. Characteristics of the home range of this grassland-inhabiting lizard were discussed in relation to resource abundance and predation pressure.

Distribution of Japanese serow in its southern range, Kyushu

The Japanese serow (Capricornis c. crispus Temminck) is an endemic ungulate in Japan and is to be found in the montane regions of Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu. In the last decade, investigations of the distribution and abundance of the serow have been conducted by the Japan Ministry of Environment (1980) and the Ministry of Culture (Kiuchi et al. 1978). In Kyushu, the distribution of the serow was limited to the main mountainous districts of the central part of the island that covered Ohita, Miyazaki and Kumamoto prefectures. This chapter presents the results of a ten-year survey of the distribution and abundance of the serow. The characteristics of the distributional patterns and present situation of the serow in Kyushu are discussed, and the role of secondary forests as the habitat of serows is assessed.