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Common Raccoon

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The Common Raccoon (Procyon lotor), also known as the Northern Raccoon or "Racoon," is the most common type of raccoon in North America. The species is often referred to as simply the Raccoon (or Coon), although it is only the most prevalent of a half-dozen species of raccoons.

Adult weights vary with habitat but an average is about 5.5 to 9.5 kg (12 to 21 pounds), the largest recorded being over 28 kg (61 pounds) [link]. They have black facial colorings around the eyes, and have a bushy tail with light and dark alternating rings. The coat is a mixture of gray, brown, and black fur. On rare occasions, raccoons may be albino. The characteristic eye colorings make the animal look like it is wearing a "bandit's mask," which has only enhanced the animal's reputation for mischief, vandalism, and theivery.

Mating usually occurs in January or February and a litter of four or five young are born in April or May (varies by climate). Raccoons usually live in hollow trees, ground burrows, or caves. They like to travel along streams or rivers in search of food. However there are raccoons that live in the forest not near any stream. Males have no part in raising the young. By late summer, the litter will be weaned and will begin to fend for themselves. In severe winter climates, raccoons may become dormant but do not hibernate. Raccoons have been known to live up to 12 years in the wild, but most live for only a few years.

At one time, raccoons were aggressively trapped for their fur. Populations suffered greatly but have recovered.

In popular culture, American frontiersmen such as Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett were often portrayed wearing coonskin hats. It is unlikely, however, that either of them actually wore coonskin caps.

Range of the raccoon

Raccoons are common throughout North and Central America from southern Canada to Panama. Raccoons are one of the largest animals to have adapted well to human development. Suburban areas, and many large cities, have significant raccoon populations. Raccoons are skilled foragers who can thrive on garbage and pet food. They have been known to take up residence in attics and garages, and even to enter houses through "pet doors" in search of food. When confronted by humans or household animals, raccoons may be aggressive. Raccoons that live in cities, however, and thus in proximity to humans, are usually a little less so. Urban raccoons tend to lose their fear of humans over time (especially in wooded areas of urban centres) but this seems to develop in them more of a sense of "if you don't bother me, I won't bother you." A good example of this can be seen if a glass windowpane ever separates human and city-dwelling raccoon. As often as not, the raccoon's response will be indifference or even curiosity, even while under direct observation.

In 1934 German Luftwaffe general Hermann Goering decided to release a pair of raccoons into the German wilderness to "enrich the Reich's fauna." The raccoons have since been extremely successful due to the lack of natural enemies. Others are believed to have escaped from fur farms during Allied bombing in World War II.

The German newsmagazine Der Spiegel reported in 2002 that the raccoon had established itself in a small area of north-central France and in a considerable area of central Germany, where it had become a neighborhood pest to some and a beloved pet to others.

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