between march 1987 and december 1988, more than 350 scrapes from large cats were documented in the study area.although recorded throughout the year,scraping behavior occurred most frequently during the rainy season months. the largest proportion of recorded scrapes (44%)were in the area where the ranges of all five resident large cats overlapped (fig. 1). most scrapes were found along roads and trails either in grass,if present, or in dirt near the edge of the road. scrapes were also frequently observed at large salt licks, and alongside big cat kills.