I walk around the empty parking lot of a cluster of office buildings that is near the trail where I walk. In the middle of a parking space, I spot something black, gray, white — and furry. It is a dead raccoon. I choose not to post its photo, but one of a live raccoon instead. These are interesting creatures and the worst thing that can happen to a camper. Having some camping experience, I know we had to tie bungee cords around our ice chests or any plastic tubs with food, or the raccoons would help themselves. We also put food in our cars to protect it from the raccoons’ grabby hands. One of the women I camped with neglected to close the sunroof on her car one night. The raccoons had a field day with the leftover pizza inside. I assume the pizza toppings that were left they probably disliked and spit out. If we walked up the hill to the bathroom at night, we could see their eyes shining in the dark around the trash dumpster.
Etymology
According to Wikipedia, names for the species include the common raccoon, North American raccoon and northern raccoon. The word "raccoon" was adopted into English from the native Powhatan term, as used in the colony of Virginia. It was recorded on John Smith’s's list of Powhatan words as aroughcun, and on that of William Strachey as arathkone. It has also been identified as a reflex of a Proto-Algonquian root ahrah-koon-em, meaning "[the] one who rubs, scrubs and scratches with its hands."
The colloquial abbreviation coon is used in words like coonskin for fur clothing and in phrases like old coon as a self-designation of trappers. In the 1830s, the United States Whig party used the raccoon as an emblem, causing them to be pejoratively known as "coons" by their political opponents, who saw them as too sympathetic to African Americans. Soon after that the term became an ethnic slur, especially in use between 1880 and 1920, and the term is still considered offensive.
Subspecies
As of 2005, Mammal Species of the World recognizes 22 subspecies of raccoons. Four of these subspecies living only on small Central American and Caribbean islands were often regarded as distinct species after their discovery. These are the Bahamian raccoon and Guadeloupe raccoon, which are very similar to each other; the Tres Marias raccoon, which is larger than average and has an angular skull; and the extinct Barbados raccoon. A fifth island raccoon population, the Cozumel raccoon, which weighs only 6.6 to 8.8 lbs. and has notably small teeth, is still regarded as a separate species.
Physical characteristics
The body weight of an adult raccoon varies considerably with habitat. The smallest specimens live in southern Florida. Males are usually 15 to 20% heavier than females. At the beginning of winter, a raccoon can weigh twice as much as in spring because of fat storage. The largest recorded wild raccoon weighed 62.6 lbs. and measured 55 inches in total length. The most characteristic physical feature of the raccoon is the area of black fur around the eyes, which contrasts sharply with the surrounding white face coloring. The dark mask may reduce glare and thus enhance night vision. Raccoons with a very dark coat are more common in the German population because individuals with such coloring were among those initially released to the wild.
The raccoon can stand on its hind legs to examine objects with its front paws. As raccoons have short legs compared to their compact torso, they are usually not able either to run quickly or jump great distances. Their top speed over short distances is 10 to 15 mph. Raccoons can swim with an average speed of about 3 mph and can stay in the water for several hours. For climbing down a tree headfirst — an unusual ability for a mammal of its size — a raccoon rotates its hind feet so they are pointing backwards. Raccoons have a dual cooling system to regulate their temperature; that is, they are able to both sweat and pant for heat dissipation.
Senses
The most important sense for the raccoon is its sense of touch. The hypersensitive front paws are protected by a thin horny layer that becomes pliable when wet. The five digits of the paws have no webbing between them. Almost two-thirds of the area responsible for sensory perception in the raccoon's cerebral cortex is specialized for the interpretation of tactile impulses, more than in any other studied animal. They can identify objects before touching them with vibrissae or whisker-like hair located above their sharp, nonretractable claws. The photo shows the lower side of the front paw with visible vibrissae on the tips of the digits. The raccoon's paws lack an opposable thumb; thus, it does not have the agility of the hands of primates.
Raccoons are thought to be colorblind or at least poorly able to distinguish color, though their eyes are well-adapted for sensing green light. Visual perception is of subordinate importance to raccoons because of their poor long-distance vision. With their broad auditory range, they can perceive tones up to 50–85 kHz as well as quiet noises, like those produced by earthworms underground.
Intelligence
Zoologist Clinton Hart Merriam described raccoons as "clever beasts," and that "in certain directions their cunning surpasses that of the fox." The animal's intelligence gave rise to the epithet "sly coon." Only a few studies have been undertaken to determine the mental abilities of raccoons, most of them based on the animal's sense of touch. In a study by the ethologist H. B. Davis in 1908, raccoons were able to open 11 of 13 complex locks in fewer than 10 tries and had no problems repeating the action when the locks were rearranged or turned upside down. Davis concluded that they understood the abstract principles of the locking mechanisms and their learning speed was equivalent to that of rhesus monkeys. In a study by B. Pohl in 1992, raccoons were able to instantly differentiate between identical and different symbols three years after the short initial learning phase.
Social behavior
Studies in the 1990s by the ethologists Stanley D. Gehrt and Ulf Hohmann suggest that raccoons engage in sex-specific social behaviors and are not typically solitary, as was previously thought. Related females often live in a so-called “fission-fusion society;” that is, they share a common area and occasionally meet at feeding or resting grounds. Unrelated males often form loose male social groups to maintain their position against foreign males during mating season — or against other potential invaders. Such a group does not usually consist of more than four individuals. Since some males show aggressive behavior towards unrelated kits, mothers will isolate themselves from other raccoons until their kits are big enough to defend themselves. With respect to these three different modes of life prevalent among raccoons, Hohmann called their social structure a "three-class society."
Diet
While its diet in spring and early summer consists mostly of insects, worms, and other animals already available early in the year, it prefers fruits and nuts, such as acorns and walnuts, which emerge in late summer and autumn, and represent a rich calorie source for building up fat needed for winter. Contrary to popular belief, raccoons only occasionally eat active or large prey, such as birds and mammals. They prefer prey that is easier to catch, specifically fish, amphibians and bird eggs. Raccoons are virulent predators of eggs and hatchlings in both birds and reptile nests.
Dousing
One aspect of raccoon behavior is so well known that it gives the animal part of its scientific name, Procyon lotor; "lotor" is neo-Latin for "washer." In the wild, raccoons often dabble for underwater food near the shoreline. They then often pick up the food item with their front paws to examine it and rub the item, sometimes to remove unwanted parts. This gives the appearance of the raccoon "washing" the food. The tactile sensitivity of raccoons' paws is increased if this rubbing action is performed underwater, since the water softens the hard layer covering the paws. However, the behavior observed in captive raccoons in which they carry their food to water to "wash" or douse it before eating has not been observed in the wild. The widely accepted theory is that dousing in captive raccoons is a fixed action pattern from the dabbling behavior performed when foraging at shores for aquatic foods.
Distribution in Japan
In Japan, up to 1,500 raccoons were imported as pets each year after the success of the anime series Rascal the Racoon (1977). The range of raccoons in the wild in Japan grew from 17 prefectures in 2000 to all 47 prefectures in 2008. It is estimated that raccoons cause thirty million yen or approximately $275,000 of agricultural damage on Hokkaido alone.
Urban raccoons
Due to its adaptability, the raccoon has been able to use urban areas as a habitat. The first sightings were recorded in a suburb of Cicinnati in the 1920s. Since the 1950s, raccoons have been present in metropolitan areas like Washington, D.C.; Chicago; and Toronto. Since the 1960s, Kassel, Germany has hosted Europe's first and densest population in a large urban area, with about 130 to 390 animals per square mile. In small towns and suburbs, many raccoons sleep in a nearby forest after foraging in the settlement area. Fruit and insects in gardens and leftovers in municipal waste are easily available food sources. Furthermore, a large number of additional sleeping areas exist in these areas, such as hollows in old garden trees, cottages, garages, abandoned houses and attics. The percentage of urban raccoons sleeping in abandoned or occupied houses varies from 15% in Washington, D.C. (1991) to 43% in Kassel, Germany (2003).
Mythology, arts and entertainment
In the mythology of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, the raccoon is the subject of folk tales. Stories such as "How raccoons catch so many crayfish" from the Tuscarora centered on its skills at foraging. In other tales, the raccoon played the role of the trickster which outsmarts other animals, like coyotes and wolves. Among others, the Dakota Sioux believe the raccoon has natural spirit powers, since its mask resembled the facial paintings, two-fingered swashes of black and white, used during rituals to connect to spirit beings. The Aztecs linked supernatural abilities especially to females, whose commitment to their young was associated with the role of wise women in their society.
The raccoon also appears in Native American art across a wide geographic range. Petroglyphs with engraved raccoon tracks were found in Lewis Canyon, Texas; at the Crow Hollow petroglyph site in Grayson county, Kentucky; and in river drainages near Tularosa, New Mexico and San Francisco, California. A true-to-detail figurine made of quartz, the Ohio Mound Builders' Stone Pipe, was found near the Scioto River. The meaning and significance of the Raccoon Priests Gorget, which features a stylized carving of a raccoon and was found at the Spiro Mounds, Oklahoma, remains unknown.
In Western culture, several autobiographical novels about living with a raccoon have been written, mostly for children. The best-known is Sterling North’s Rascal, which recounts how he raised a kit during World War I. In recent years, anthropomorphic raccoons played main roles in the animated television series The Raccoons, the computer-animated film Over the Hedge, the live action film Guardians of the Galaxy (and the comics that it was based upon) and the video game series Sly Cooper.
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