The Uncommon Life of the Common Raccoon

The raccoon is nocturnal and solitary except when breeding or caring for its young. An accomplished climber, it can ascend a tree of any size and is able to come down backward or forward. Few animals can descend a tree headfirst; the raccoon does this by rotating the hindfoot 180 degrees. On the ground this animal usually walks, but it can run and is a good swimmer.

During very cold spells, the raccoon may sleep for several days or even a month or more at a time, but it does not hibernate. It may be out during warmer periods in winter, and sometimes even forages then, but it does not need to feed as much, as it stores a third or so of its body weight as fat and can survive the entire winter without eating if necessary. Omnivorous, the raccoon eats grapes, nuts, berries, grubs, grasshoppers, and crickets; voles, deer mice, squirrels, and other small mammals; as well as bird eggs and nestlings.

The raccoon's nimble fingers, almost as deft as a monkey's, are used to hunt for food by touch. (In fact, the animal's common name is derived from "aroughcoune," an Algonquin Indian word meaning "he scratches with his hands.") If water is conveniently close, this animal sometimes appears to wash its food, a trait reflected in its species name, lotor, which means "washer," but the raccoon does not actually wash its food. The raccoon's objective is not to clean the food but to knead and tear at it, feeling for inedible matter that should be discarded. Normally this is done with food found in the water. Communal denning is common-up to 23 raccoons have been reported in a single den, but usually only one adult male is present.

Although raccoons have a small home range, males travel miles in search of mates. After mating, the male may remain with a female a week or so before leaving to seek another mate. The female is lethargic during pregnancy; she prefers to make a leaf nest in a large, hollow tree, but may also use a protected place, such as a culvert, cave, rock cleft, woodchuck den, or space under a wind-thrown tree.

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