<< Back 8/14/02 The Naturalist's Corner By Don Hendershot The little one ambling down the dirt road stopped, sniffed the air and backtracked. Still confused, it started across the road but upon hearing the chirping from its sibling backtracked again. This time it started up a small tree; went up about three feet and peered at me from around the trunk like a masked gremlin at Halloween. Mama raccoon was nowhere to be seen or heard and it was a tough decision, but, as a rule, I always leave wild babies in the wild unless I am certain there are no adults left to care for them. Mama should have been nearby because these guys were very young. Even though raccoons are weaned by two to three months, they generally stay with the mother for about a year. I can only hope that mom was watching from a treetop or brush pile as these inquisitive youngsters posed for pictures. “Coon huntin” was a big past time in rural Louisiana where I grew up, and young raccoons were often taken as pets. As little ones they make intriguing pets. They are intelligent, curious, docile and quite tolerant of being handled. But all of that changes in about a year. Adult raccoons are solitary and territorial. When young in captivity reach sexual maturity, wildness seems to take over, and they become downright sullen if kept penned up. When I was a youngster we romped in the wilds of the Beouf River swamp in a little tarpaper shack on Horse Shoe Lake. We often fostered wild orphans, and I still remember the curiosity and amazing dexterity of young raccoons. We would hide treats in our shirt or jean pockets and the little rascals would shimmy up our pants leg, sniff out the goodies and reach their “hands” in and take the treasure. The dexterity of the raccoon is a notable trait and led to many of its common names among different Native American tribes: aissibum from the Chippewa, meaning “they pick things up;” wood-ko from the Seminole, “one who rubs;” wutki, from the Creek, “they rub and scratch;” and the name which was probably Anglicized into raccoon was arakunem, from the Algonkin for “they rub, or scrub.” The scientific name, Procyon lotor is from the Greek. “Pro” is before, “cyon” means dog and “lotor” means one that washes. Raccoons, especially captive ones, appear to wash their food before eating. It was once thought that raccoons had insufficient salivary glands and moistening their food made it easier to chew and digest. Recent studies disproved this. While there is no definitive explanation for this behavior, most biologists believe it replicates natural behavior of catching crayfish and other aquatic animals. The Chaoui (shau-wee) as they were called by the Cajuns in Louisiana are very opportunistic when it comes to diet. They will eat berries, persimmons, wild grapes, acorns, crayfish, salamanders, frogs, bird eggs, and garbage – just about anything. Some often develop a penchant for corn and can wreak havoc in a cornfield. Raccoons are found from northern South America to southern Canada and from coast to coast. They are quite adaptable and are at home in marshes, swamps, forests, suburbia and even urban settings. In the wild, raccoons prefer to den in trees, but if trees are not readily available they will use abandoned burrows, caves and even deserted buildings. These masked bandits are primarily nocturnal. They have a keen sense of smell, good night vision and a highly developed sense of touch. Humans are the raccoon’s main nemesis and human-caused deaths from hunting, trapping and autos is their principal mortality factor, followed by malnutrition. Although some individuals may live a dozen or more years in the wild, the average life span is about two years. I hope Fric and Frac found their mom after I left them and have a long and happy coon life. (Don Hendershot can be reached at don@smokymountainnews.com)