Comparison of Point Frame and Hand Separation of Coyote Scats

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Abstract
Point frame and hand separation of scats for estimating coyote food habits are compared. Student''s t-tests were used to compare known and estimated dry weights of each classified category. Categories were hairs, feathers, bones, plant materials, seeds and sand. Approximately 2 h were required for hand separation of materials of each sample. Each point frame examination required approximately 15 min/sample. Point frame estimated mean dry weights were not significantly different from the mean dry weights of the hand separations (P > 0.05) for any of the categories studied. The point frame method is acceptable for estimating the dry weights of fragments found in coyote scats. The reduction in time and effort allows the processing of 8 times as many samples as can be handled by hand separation to obtain the same information.

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