Welcome to the last Wild Fact of the week before a 3 day weekend.  Well it is a long weekend if you are living in the Yukon.  Missing the August 1st holiday doesn’t seem so bad anymore. Today we are going to look at a misleading animal called the Raccoon Dog.  It is misleading since it is not even remotely related to the Raccoon, however, they do have a similar appearance.  The Raccoon Dog is actually a small canid native to parts of Eastern Asia, however, you can find them scattered throughout Central and Eastern Europe since they have been introduced for their valuable fur.

The Raccoon Dog is special among the dog species as they are the only canines known to hibernate during the early winter months.  Smartest dogs out there if you ask me. It is important for the Raccoon Dog to put on some weight prior to the cold winter months.  If they haven’t increased their subcutaneous fat by 18-23% or their internal fat by 3-5% then they will most likely perish during the harsh winter.  After all you need something for your body to feed on while you sleep.  Honestly, is that not the best behaviour ever? Pig out all summer on junk food and then lose all that weight while you sleep during the winter.  Personally I think that is the ultimate eating guide right there.

The Raccoon Dog may not feed on candy and chips all summer but they do enjoy feasting on insects, rodents, amphibians, reptiles and pretty much anything else they can get their paws on.When bored with all that meat they will compliment their diet with nuts, seeds, fruits, corn and even rifle through your garbage to see what they can find. Hmmm, I suppose they could feed on candy and chips provided you didn’t finish that bag of Zesty Doritos. I guess in this sense they are also like the Raccoon. Surprisingly the Raccoon Dog is an excellent swimmer and as such will also feed on waterfowl, fish and frogs.

Well before we start the long weekend I wanted to finish off the post by pointing out that the Raccoon Dog is very similar in appearance to the fox.  Only they have shorter legs and a shorter tail but the similarities are still there. They upstage the fox by being able to utilize their sharp claws to climb trees rather proficiently.  One more trait similar to the Raccoon.  Are we sure these two animals are not related?

Thanks for reading and enjoy your weekend everyone!