The Masked Bandit

Almost everyone who lives in the Midwest at some point has seen a raccoon laying by the roadside. If you’ve spent any time camping, then you may have seen raccoons. They can be found from North America to Central America. It’s just a fact of life. This animal can be found in the country, in towns, and in cities all over the across our great land. Not only are they found across our country, but they occur in almost every single habitat in our great country. Their populations have actually increased since the time of Europe’s first explorers. The reason behind this is that, we supply a bunch of food. We all know, that raccoons our survivors, but do we know the facts behind these masked critters.

I learned a little bit about raccoons while digging through my books to get information for you. Let’s start off with the basics though. A raccoon can grow up to 3 feet long. They can weigh 11 to 33 lbs. The diet of a raccoon is completely omnivorous. Omnivores are any animal that feeds on both plants and animals. They feed on fruits and frogs, and a lot in between. You’ve never seen a raccoon washing it’s foods. We know what is really going on is that the raccoon is actually using the water to breaking up the food. There is also a theory that suggests that raccoons go to water because they often find food in the water. Of course, they are famous for feeding from our garbage cans. They are nocturnal. When it comes to hibernation, raccoons don’t actually hibernate. They experience a long sleep. The dens used for their winter resting is also used by the females to give birth to her young. She can have up to 11 young, but most common are litters up to 3 or 4. Those babies are born after a sixty to seventy-three day gestation period. The babies venture out from their den in about 9 weeks. After 6 months, the babies will be totally independent. Believe it or not, when you chop down the dead tree in your yard, you maybe negatively impacting the raccoon population in your area.  Go on and take this knowledge and learn more about this animal.  Better yet, go out and share nature with your kids, your nephews and nieces, or your grandchildren.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raccoon

http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Procyon_lotor.html

http://www.bear-tracker.com/coon.html

http://www.hsus.org/wildlife/a_closer_look_at_wildlife/raccoons.html