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| [Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note |
GENERAL RACCOON FACTS
A baby raccoon's eyes do not open until about three weeks. Ranger Weaver's foundling raccoon Frosty was fed with a baby bottle using warm evaporated milk, water, and a few drops of honey, then, burped like a baby. Carefully, she prepared the young raccoon to return to the wild, finding that Frosty was terrified, until his mating instinct finally, successfully took hold. The raccoon baby is known as a kit. The raccoons' procyonid relatives are members of the order Carnivora, which includes dogs, cats, and bears.The intelligence and dexterity of a raccoon is such that it can pick an avocado from a tree, aim, and throw it at a barking dog. Door knobs that can be turned -- without locks -- are no obstacle for a raccoon to open. Some raccoons seem to possess enough natural intelligence to follow the action events of what they see portrayed on television. North American Indians called the raccoon -- aroughcun -- which translates, "he who scratches with his hands." The present name of raccoon comes from its Indian name aroughcun, which Captain John Smith used to describe the animal in his Generall Historie of Virginia (1624): "There is a beast they call aroughcun [raccoon], much like a badger, but useth to live [in] trees as squirrels do. Their squirrels some are near as great as our smallest sort of wild rabbits, some blackish or black and white, but the most are gray."The German name for raccoon is waschbaren ("wash bear"), while the French call the raccoon raton laveur ("little washing rat"). Raccoons are good climbers, but unlike monkeys, their tail is nonprehensile, i.e., cannot seize and grasp. When climbing down from a tree, the raccoon backs down, except for the last few steps, when it turns around. Swimming comes easily to the raccoon, who uses water for hunting; and, they have been known to drown dogs, who have pursued them into the water.
Raccoons are survivors. In 1956, this National Geographic writer fitly summarized the seemingly unsinkable raccoon: "If men cut a raccoon's wood down to build a summer cottage, they can expect the animal to come and live in the fireplace chimney. Fill in the creek where raccoons catch shiners and chubs, and you will hear your garbage cans go rattling over at midnight. Pour concrete, and raccoons will make themselves at home in the culverts under the road. Raccoons take civilization in stride and grow fat where lampposts have replaced trees." Raccoons tend to be solitary. In populated areas, raccoons often choose to make homes in chimney flues and attics. They seem to be the perennial, nightly raider of the suburban garbage can. Mating season for the raccoon is at its peak in February and March. The male's loyalty to the female lasts about a week before its off to find another mate. |
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