Masked palm civets (Paguma larvata) are increasing in abundance in Japan, and understanding their den preferences may help control their numbers. We investigated the den site selection and use patterns of masked palm civets, as well as seasonal changes in selection and use, in urban areas in Japan using radio tracking. We tracked 5 civets in the Daijiji and Kamido areas of Morioka City, Iwate Prefecture and identified 84 den sites that were used a total of 245 times by those civets. Overall, civets chose buildings more frequently than warehouses or the outdoors as den sites. Outdoor den sites were used only in summer. For each individual, about half of the den sites were used only once. On the other hand, the top three den sites with the highest number of uses accounted for 40–60% of the total number of uses. In Daijiji, civets selected significantly more temples/shrines and significantly fewer residential houses than expected; however, across the sites residential houses were used more frequently than any other site type. In winter, civets depended on better insulated buildings (e.g., temples/shrines and residential or vacant houses) and tended to use the same den sites continuously. These results indicate that civets living in urban areas tend to select buildings as den sites. Therefore, not only to reduce property damage, but also to create an environment that makes it difficult for civets to overwinter, it is important to manage buildings, so that civets cannot use them as dens.

果子狸 ( Paguma larvata）在日本的数量正在增加，了解它们的巢穴偏好可能有助于控制它们的数量。我们利用无线电跟踪调查了日本城市地区果子狸的巢穴选择和使用模式，以及选择和使用的季节变化。我们在岩手县盛冈市的大地寺和上户地区追踪了 5 只果子狸，发现了 84 个果子狸的巢穴，这些果子狸总共使用了 245 次。总体而言，果子狸更频繁地选择建筑物而不是仓库或户外作为巢穴。室外巢穴仅在夏季使用。对于每个人来说，大约一半的巢穴只使用过一次。另一方面，使用次数最多的前三个巢点占总使用次数的 40-60%。在大吉吉，果子狸选择的寺庙/神社明显多于预期，而民居则明显少于预期；然而，在这些地点，住宅的使用频率高于任何其他地点类型。在冬季，果子狸依赖于隔热效果更好的建筑物（例如寺庙/神社以及住宅或空置房屋），并且倾向于连续使用相同的巢穴地点。这些结果表明，生活在城市地区的果子狸倾向于选择建筑物作为巢穴。因此，不仅要减少财产损失，还要创造一个让果子狸难以越冬的环境，对建筑物进行管理很重要，让果子狸不能将其用作巢穴。果子狸依赖于隔热效果更好的建筑物（例如寺庙/神社以及住宅或空置房屋），并且倾向于连续使用相同的巢穴地点。这些结果表明，生活在城市地区的果子狸倾向于选择建筑物作为巢穴。因此，不仅要减少财产损失，还要创造一个让果子狸难以越冬的环境，对建筑物进行管理很重要，让果子狸不能将其用作巢穴。果子狸依赖于隔热效果更好的建筑物（例如寺庙/神社以及住宅或空置房屋），并且倾向于连续使用相同的巢穴地点。这些结果表明，生活在城市地区的果子狸倾向于选择建筑物作为巢穴。因此，不仅要减少财产损失，还要创造一个让果子狸难以越冬的环境，对建筑物进行管理很重要，让果子狸不能将其用作巢穴。