Metabolic Adaptation to Climate and Distribution of the Raccoon Procyon Lotor and Other Procyonidae

by John N. Mugaas; Kathleen P. Mahlke-Johnson; John Seidensticker

Evaporative Water Loss

During metabolic measurements at temperatures above freezing, evaporative water loss was determined gravimetrically. Upstream from the chemical columns, an aliquot of air (0.1 L/min) was drawn off the exhaust line and diverted for a timed interval through a series of preweighed (0.1 mg)

-tubes containing Drierite®. The aliquot then passed through a second series of

-tubes containing Ascarite® before entering the oxygen analysis system. Evaporative water loss was calculated using [Eq. 1]

Ė = (mw·.Ve)/(.Va·t·m)

Eq. 1

where Ė is evaporative water loss (mg·g^-1·h^-1), m_w is mass of water collected (mg), .V_e is rate of air flow into the chamber (3.0 L/min), .V_a is the rate of air flow through the