ETYMOLOGY
The English word "raccoon" is an adaptation of a native Powhatan word meaning "one who rubs and scratches with its hands".
The collective noun for raccoons is a gaze.
DISTRIBUTION
Raccoons are common throughout North America from Canada to Panama, where the subspecies Procyon lotor pumilus coexists with the crab-eating raccoon (Procyon cancrivorus).
There are wild populations in Germany, France and Spain.
The population of raccoons on Hispaniola was exterminated as early as 1513 by Spanish colonists who hunted them for their meat.
Raccoons were also exterminated in Cuba and Jamaica, where the last sightings were reported in 1687.
The common Raccoon did not inhabit Japan until 1977, the year when a popular anime caused many people to import them as pets, allowing many to escape into the wild.
The island of Guadeloupe thought it had its own special species of raccoons which became a cultural icon but it turned out they were just regular raccoons.
ANATOMY
They can grow to 52in long with an 18in tail, weigh up to 60lb and live for 20 years in captivity.
Raccoons have bad eyesight and are color blind, but have great hearing and a great sense of smell.
The distinctive ‘bandit mask’ around the eyes is thought to help night vision by reducing glare.
The average raccoon can crawl into holes as tight as 4 inches (101 mms). This is because of their very cylindrical bodies and because most of their body is fur.
Raccoons are omnivores, eating birds, eggs, frogs, toads, fruit, insects and worms.
Raccoons have nimble paws and sometimes wash their food before eating it.
They run at up to 15mph and rotate their hind feet through 180 degrees, allowing them to climb down trees head first.
Raccoons are very agile tree climbers and do not mind climbing or falling from elevations as high as 40 feet (12 meters).
Studies found that raccoons were able to remember solutions to tasks for three years.
Raccoons do not hibernate, but they do sleep for days during cold winters.
In the mating season, males roam in search of females, who can conceive over only a three to four-day period.
If you bring a raccoon's head to the Henniker, New Hampshire town hall, you are entitled to receive $0.10 from the town.
A raccoon was sent to the White House to be served for Thanksgiving dinner on November 25, 1926, but President Calvin Coolidge and his family kept her as a pet instead. They named her Rebecca.
As a companion for Rebecca, Reuben, a male raccoon was acquired by a White House police officer, but the two reportedly did not get along. Members of the White House staff reportedly disliked the raccoons, since they often ripped both clothing — especially expensive silk stockings — and upholstery.
Raccoons were brought to Germany in the 1920s for their pelts. During World War II, an Allied bomb hit a raccoon farm wall, allowing a dozen or so to escape. Today, German cities are being overrun by millions of raccoons.
Japan is infested with invasive North American Raccoons, due to the popularity of the 1977 cartoon series Rascal the Raccoon. Thousands of Japanese adopted Raccoons, only to let them into the wild when they proved to be poor pets.
BEHAVIOR
Raccoons are omnivores, eating birds, eggs, frogs, toads, fruit, insects and worms.
Raccoons have nimble paws and sometimes wash their food before eating it.
They run at up to 15mph and rotate their hind feet through 180 degrees, allowing them to climb down trees head first.
Raccoons are very agile tree climbers and do not mind climbing or falling from elevations as high as 40 feet (12 meters).
Studies found that raccoons were able to remember solutions to tasks for three years.
Raccoons do not hibernate, but they do sleep for days during cold winters.
In the mating season, males roam in search of females, who can conceive over only a three to four-day period.
FUN RACCOON FACTS
If you bring a raccoon's head to the Henniker, New Hampshire town hall, you are entitled to receive $0.10 from the town.
A raccoon was sent to the White House to be served for Thanksgiving dinner on November 25, 1926, but President Calvin Coolidge and his family kept her as a pet instead. They named her Rebecca.
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| Grace Coolidge and Rebecca |
As a companion for Rebecca, Reuben, a male raccoon was acquired by a White House police officer, but the two reportedly did not get along. Members of the White House staff reportedly disliked the raccoons, since they often ripped both clothing — especially expensive silk stockings — and upholstery.
Raccoons were brought to Germany in the 1920s for their pelts. During World War II, an Allied bomb hit a raccoon farm wall, allowing a dozen or so to escape. Today, German cities are being overrun by millions of raccoons.
Japan is infested with invasive North American Raccoons, due to the popularity of the 1977 cartoon series Rascal the Raccoon. Thousands of Japanese adopted Raccoons, only to let them into the wild when they proved to be poor pets.
The raccoon life expectancy in the wild is only 1.8 to 3.1 years, depending on the local conditions such as traffic volume, hunting, and weather severity. Captive raccoons have been known to live for more than 20 years.
Two raccoons – Bandit and Turpin – broke out of Drusillas Park in East Sussex, England in 2012 but broke back in a week later.
Sources Daily Express, Daily Mail
Two raccoons – Bandit and Turpin – broke out of Drusillas Park in East Sussex, England in 2012 but broke back in a week later.
Sources Daily Express, Daily Mail
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