I had a reader ask why I did not have a Wild Fact about raccoons up yet. It got me thinking that I should put up one on raccoons since they have a lot of interesting features and just about everyone is familiar with these creatures of the night.
Granted, most people seem to think of the raccoon as a nuisance and a disease carrier but if more people would take the time to understand these highly intelligent critters then both raccoons and humans would be able to get a long a lot better. One of the purposes of Wild Facts is to help people understand a bit more about the wildlife all around us.
As I mentioned there are several interesting characteristics about the raccoon but today I am only going to touch on the colouration of the raccoon. Sorry folks, you will have to wait for another day to learn more about the raccoon (or you can click the link I will provide at the end of this post). As mentioned above the perception of the raccoon is that of a mischieivious little thief. It doesen’t help that the raccoon is always wearing a “bandits mask” to hide its face. Believe it or not though, this mask has other benefits to the raccoon then just making it difficult to pick them out of a police line-up. The dark mask may actually help other raccoons distinguish each other based on the colourations of the face. As well, this mask can help reduce the amount of glare (similar to the black paint that football players wear all the time) which will ultimately assist with the raccoons’ night vision abilities. This is an important feature since the raccoon is a nocturnal animal.
The fur of the raccoon has other beneifts then just providing a canvas to colour on. The guard-hairs assist with shedding moisure while the thick undercoat, which makes up the majority of the fur, provides a nice and warm insulation for the little raccoon. Remember that just because the raccoon wears a mask does not mean they are bad animals!
Raccoon Fast Fact: Studies have shown that raccoons can remember tasks for up to 3 years after learning it. I can’t even remember things from that far back.
For more information on raccoons and other useful animal info on co-existing with wildlife then I recoommend you check out SunChaser Wildlife at: http://www.sunchaserwildlife.com/
I loved this one Nathan. We managed to catch two this summer along with an unsuspecting cat. We released the male on the other side of the river, but when we captured the female, we realized she’d just had her litter (we knew she was in the family way prior to this). Needless to say, my conscience got the better of me and I let her go behind the garage. We haven’t seen hide nor hair of any since. I was hoping to get a glimpse of her babies, but she moved them before we had a chance. We found out they have a great fondness for apples!
Thanks for the great post!
It is nice to hear that you were practicing live release and transfer then just shooting them like other people would do. That is too bad you didn’t get a chance to see the little guys as I am sure they would have been very cute!
I think one of the best things about this blog is getting the opportunity to hear wildlife related stories from my readers. Thanks for sharing!
Have a great day!
Dear Nathan, It’s the 1st time that I have visited your Wild Life blog. Your work is impressive. You are certainly providing very useful info about wild animals and wild life. , In particular, I liked this post about Raccoons. I appreciate your work very much, and I have added your blogs in my favourites as well. Thank you very much for doing a good job by providing unique info about wild life.
Thank you so much for the kind words, Pearl! I really appreciate your support. If you ever have any wildlife related questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.
Have a great weekend!