Indianapolis has unusually high raccoon population and researchers are trying to understand why
Wildlife researchers at Butler University have been placing 45 to 50 cameras around Indianapolis four times a year as part of the Urban Wildlife Information Network, and after several years of data, one pattern stands out: Indianapolis has an unusually high raccoon population compared to other cities in the network, including Chicago and St. Louis. It also has a surprisingly low skunk population. Researchers are still trying to understand why.
Beyond raccoons, the cameras have captured an impressive range of urban wildlife, including coyotes and red foxes within a mile or two of Monument Circle, a rare flying squirrel, and perhaps most surprisingly, a badger just a couple of miles from downtown, one of only a handful ever recorded in Marion County.
Animal control professional Ryan Agullana, who has worked in Indianapolis for about a decade, has also noticed a significant rise in groundhog calls, up roughly 50 percent from the previous year. When it comes to dealing with urban wildlife in homes, Agullana favors an exclusion approach, allowing animals to leave through a one-way door rather than relocating them, since animals fare better in the territory they already know.
