Helminth Parasites of the Raccoon (Procyon lotor), Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana), and striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis) from Keith County, Nebraska

Helminth Parasites of the Raccoon (Procyon lotor), Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana), and striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis) 35 Introduction Although the helminth fauna of the raccoon (Pro-cyon lotor), Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana) and striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis) is fairly well known, great gaps exist in our knowledge concerning the distribution of helminths of these hosts throughout North America. This study reports on the helminth fauna of these furbearers from western Nebraska, specifically Keith County. This region is particularly interesting relative to the geographic distribution of the helminths of furbearers because little information exists concerning the helminth parasites of these hosts from the western Great Plains. Lying just east of the Rocky Mountains, the western Great Plains offers a unique epizootiologi-cal setting and approaches the western-most boundary of the opossum and raccoon in the eastern United States (Lowery, 1974; Sealander, 1979). The striped skunk is more ubiquitously distributed (Lowery, 1974). Durden and Richardson (2013) reported on the ectoparasites of these raccoons, opossums, and skunks.