INTRODUCTION

Raccoons are one of the wild mammals that urban dwellers can easily recognize. They may hear the clattering of garbage cans at night as raccoons search for food. Apartment dwellers may have raccoons jump out of waste disposal units when they dispose of trash. Dogs occasionally attack raccoons, but sometimes suffer more injury than the raccoon if the raccoon cannot escape up a tree and is forced to fight.

The raccoon's family name, Procyon, comes from the Greek words pro which means before and kyon which means dog. The species name, >lotor, is a Latin word meaning washer. The common name, raccoon, comes from an Indian word that means "he scratches with his hands." Some tribes claim the name means "beast like a fox." Raccoons are common animals both in rural and urban settings.

DESCRIPTION

The raccoon's body is about 18-28 inches long. Its tail is 8-12 inches long. Adult raccoons may weigh 19 to 35 pounds with some males weighing more. Raccoons have 40 teeth (compared to humans with 32). The most obvious characteristics of raccoons are the face and tail. The raccoon has a black mask extending across its eyes and cheeks. Its tail is cylinder shaped and bushy with 5-7 distinct yellowish white and black rings and a black tip.

The raccoon's head is broad with a short, pointed nose and large, black eyes. The round, white edged ears are covered with fur and stand straight up from the head. Raccoons have short legs with feet which are 4 1/2 to 6 inches long. Buff colored fur covers the top of the foot while the bottom is naked.

The raccoon's overall body coloration is a mixture of black, white, and light brown hair. Their fur (pelage) has a very dense layer of brownish or yellowish-gray inner fur. The guard hair (outer layer of fur, longer fur which is seen on the pelage surface) on their back has black tips. The side and belly guard hairs have beige or white tips. The forehead, ears, and muzzle (nose) are buff.

Raccoons shed their fur once during the late spring. The shedding and regrowth processes take several weeks from April through June. Raccoons occasionally have pelage which is melanistic (all black), or albinistic (all white).

HABITAT

Ideal raccoon habitat consists of several acres containing a wide variety of trees, shrubs, and plants and year round access to water. Trees the coon's home range need to include young stands as well as mature woodlots. Trees with naturally occurring cavities serve as den trees.

Each type of habitat provides the raccoons with particular types of food. For example, wetlands, stream banks and ponds provide crayfish, freshwater clams, and frogs while hayfields provide insects and various small mammals. Raccoons can tolerate human activities well. Urban and suburban trash cans provide supplemental food, storm sewers serve as travel lanes, and attics and fireplace chimneys are used as dens.

FOOD AND FEEDING BEHAVIOR

Raccoons are omnivorous feeders. They eat both plant and animal foods. Acorns are a staple in the raccoon diet although other nuts are eaten. Unharvested corn provides winter food. All kinds of seeds, berries, fruit, vegetables, and grain crops serve as raccoon food.

Mice, ground squirrels and other small mammals that live in old fields or woods are prey for raccoons. Raccoons also consume earthworms and many kinds of insects. Raccoons prey upon both eggs and adult ground nesting birds, chickens and waterfowl. They eat freshwater shellfish such as snails or mussels/clams, crayfish, frogs, snakes, and turtles or turtle eggs. Minnows and other types of fish are eaten. Raccoons are adaptable and will eat whatever food sources are available. Uneaten pet food, table scraps and other garbage serves as food in urban areas, as well as vegetables and fruit from backyard gardens.

Raccoons often feel or even pound food before eating which leads to the common belief that raccoons need to wash their food before eating. They will hold it underwater to feel it but this is not necessary for them to eat it. Raccoons have a very highly developed sense of touch. Wet paws for raccoons, as well as other animals, enhance their sense of touch.

Raccoon diets vary according to season. It is crucial that they have access to highly nutritious, fattening foods during the fall. Raccoons may double their body weight in the fall in preparation for winter. They do not store food supplies for the winter.

BEHAVIOR

Courtship and Reproduction. Male raccoons leave their dens on warm winter days to eat and to seek receptive (ready to mate) females. Females are receptive for only 3 to 6 days. Mating is a noisy and active time with the coons chasing and tumbling with each other. Mating usually takes place between the first of February and the first of March. Litters are born after a gestation (pregnancy) period of 63 days. They are usually born between late March and the end of May. Litters average 3-4 although as many as 7 may occur.

A raccoon is born with fine, yellow-gray covered blackish skin. The black mask and tail rings may be partially visible. Young coons weigh 3 ounces and the ears and eyes are closed. The eyes and ears open at 3 weeks. The kit now has a complete covering of fur, and an obvious face mask and ringed tail. Lower incisors (front teeth, used for cutting) and canine (sharp, pointed tooth located just behind the incisors) teeth are also present. By six weeks, the young raccoon is quite active--tumbling and playing with its litter mates. Kits are nursed, as are all mammals. The kits weight 3-4 pounds at 9 weeks. Then, mother raccoons begin bringing the kits solid food. Permanent teeth replace the baby (called deciduous) teeth between 16 and 20 weeks of age.

Mother raccoons are very attentive to their offspring. Males, however, breed with several females and do not help in raising the young. The young may spend nearly a year with their mother. Since raccoons are very solitary (spend most of their time alone), the mother often moves her young between nests to avoid contact with other raccoons. This may happen even before the kits' eyes or ears are open. The female and kits begin foraging together in the mid to late summer.

During the fall some kits locate their own dens for the winter while others remain with the mother. By March of their second year, all the young raccoons begin seeking their own territories (area an animal defends from invasion by other animals of its kind) and dens.

Territories and Home Ranges. The female raccoon only defends the territory immediately surrounding its den tree when young coons are present. Females don't travel far from their place of birth to locate home ranges (area of daily or seasonal activities) because they frequently share overlapping home ranges.

Male raccoons, on the other hand, frequently travel some distance from their birth territory to locate a new territory and den since older raccoons maintain the same territories for several years. Males will not tolerate other males within their territory. The male, uses scent markings to identify its territory. It can be physically aggressive in forcing other males from their territory.

The size of a raccoon's home range depends on food and whether dens are available. The home ranges of raccoons may overlap when food supplies are abundant. They may also share dens during severe weather which permits them to share body warmth.

Raccoons will use dens in a variety of locations. Hollow trees near lakes, ponds, wetlands or rivers are frequently used. Nest boxes may be used when nothing else is available. Some even nest in wood duck nest boxes nailed to posts in open water. They may even share dens with opossum and skunk! Raccoons may drive groundhogs and other ground dwelling animals from their holes. City dwelling raccoons use fireplace chimneys or attics as dens which sometimes leads to homeowners finding raccoons loose in their house! During mild weather, raccoons may spend their days resting on top of old squirrel nests or even just laying on a tree branch instead of seeking an enclosed den.

In the fall raccoons eat acorns, fruit and other high energy foods to produce and store enough body fat to survive the winter. They do not really hibernate but do experience a type of dormancy that involves a slight lowering of body temperature during winter months. They will wake up when the outside temperature rises and search for food and, of course, mating opportunities. If the winter is unusually severe, they may sleep until they starve to death because their body reserves of fat were used up.

Raccoons spend much of their time in trees. They waddle when walking on the ground and may easily be overtaken by humans or dogs. Some people think they look like "drunken sailors" when they walk.

Raccoons are nocturnal animals. They roam both on the ground and in tree tops from sunset to sunrise. Daylight hours are spent resting. Coons can be noisy animals. The sounds vary from screeches and squalls to the soft, churring sound of the mother calling her kits. Coons often growl when cornered or challenged.

Since raccoons are primarily nocturnal, it is difficult to know if they live within a particular area. Two main evidences indicate the presence of raccoons. The first is their scat (body waste) and, the second is their tracks. Raccoons use specific locations in their territory for defecation (elimination of body wastes). The tracks are distinctive since the front foot track looks like a human hand and the hind foot track looks like a miniature human footprint.

OTHER COMMENTS

Positive roles. Raccoons are major predators of small mammals. They help humans when they eat mice, moles, and baby rabbits. Some plants such as raspberries and blackberries rely on animals such as raccoons for seed dispersal. Seeds remain undigested as they pass through the raccoon's body and are deposited on the ground.

Negative roles. Raccoons can be very destructive in waterfowl breeding areas since they readily eat the eggs and young hatchlings. This is a serious problem when they become abundant in wildlife refuges where waterfowl and endangered species attempt to breed in limited nesting habitat.

Raccoons pose several problems for farmers and gardeners. They will eat young corn and vegetable gardens. Some individuals will learn to snatch chickens and turkeys from coops.

Although the stories are considered comical, raccoons have dismantled camping gear. They may also enter cabins, open cupboard doors and pry lids off food containers. When this happens, some people are angered, some are amused, and some are both. Gardeners are annoyed when raccoons empty their birdfeeders.

Note: All photographs are from arttoday.com are used in accordance with their rules.