Raccoon Report

Raccoon Report

Dylan Haines

GENERAL OVERVIEW

Raccoons (Procyon lotor) belong to the Procyonidae (those who came before the dogs' family). This highly intelligent mammal has a rounded head with a short nose, small ears, and a sturdy body with minimum-length, thick, grayish brown fur. Raccoons are easily identified by a distinctive pattern of alternating black and yellowish white rings around a large bushy tail. They are also identified by a unique narrow black face mask with two white patches above the eyes. The average length is 2 to 3 feet long (including the tail) and 12 inches high, weigh 8 to 22 pounds (heaviest in autumn), and live for 10 to 13 years. Females produce one litter per year, numbering from one to six kilts and averaging four to five.

SPECIAL FEATURES AND ADAPTATIONS

Raccoons have had a long time to adjust and adapt to different surroundings. Raccoons have keen senses of smell and hearing. (Blashfield, 2004) They are strong and agile, hence good tree and fence climbers. Each foot has five long and slender digits, which operate with remarkable dexterity. This was an adaptation developed for living in dense forests and heavy tree populated areas. In the wild, they use their front feet for finding food in water, opening shellfish, and conveying food to the mouth. In urban areas the raccoon has learned to dig through human garbage as a significant food source. In adapting to human habitat, they often apply this dexterity to opening garbage cans and pet food storage containers.

GATHERING FOOD AND EATING

Raccoons will eat just about anything. Although this statement is generally true, raccoons do have definite preferences. Generally speaking, when fed by humans, they like peanuts, sweets, fruits, bread, peanut butter, and especially cat and dog food. Like feeding humans, though, don't overload them with treats -- make those for special occasions, and leave the healthier stuff for most of the time. In the wild the raccoon prefers: birds, rodents, crayfish, small reptiles, mollusks, bird eggs, grains, and small grass shoots. Raccoons have a wide variety in diet and are able to change it when necessary.

MOVEMENT AND MIGRATION

Raccoons do not migrate but they do move within a home range. They will not spend any more time on one portion of the home range than any other portion.

TERRITORIES AND DEFENSE

Raccoons exhibit solitary social spacing with each adult raccoon remaining in its home range. They have home ranges rather than territories because with a very diverse diet the resources are not very defensible, and the home range that males require for mating purposes is too large to defend. Home range size of the raccoon is largely dependent on resource availability. Smaller home ranges are associated with more resource availability and larger home ranges with less resource availability. (Prange, 2004) Home ranges for adult males are usually about 4,800 acres, but again this can vary with resource distribution as well as seasonal variations. The home range for males will expand some during the mating season so males can find more females to mate with. (Graham, 2004) Also the sizes of home ranges vary according to the sex. Males have larger home ranges than females, because they have to cover more territory to ensure that their home range will encompass those of other females. Raccoons travel their