Abstract
In the Negev Desert highlands of S Israel, porcupines optimized winter (October-March) activity for minimal exposure to moonlight, but moonlight avoidance waned thereafter and disappeared by late summer (August-September). Rain curtailed activity, but there was no correlation between duration of activity and minimum near-ground temperatures. Individual variation in activity was large in all seasons. Adult-sized animals (14.1 ± 3.0 kg body mass) averaged 7.0 ± 0.4 h surface activity year-round, but this peaked at 9.2 ± 1.3 h in late summer when nearly all night hours were used. In winter, activity averaged 6.7 ± 0.8 h and porcupines were active for longer periods on dark nights than on moonlight nights. -from Authors
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 71-80 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | Journal of Mammalogy |
| Volume | 69 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 1 Jan 1988 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
- Ecology
- Animal Science and Zoology
- Genetics
- Nature and Landscape Conservation