raccoon

Description:

raccoon Procyon lotor Description: having a body length of 40 to 70 cm (16 to 28 in) and a body weight of 3.5 to 9 kg (8 to 20 lb)he raccoon is a medium-sized mammal with a black mask and ringed tail. Its fur is gray, brown, or reddish black. This mixture of light and dark colors helps it to easily blend into the forest. Starting around March (depending on the weather, cherry blossoms have opened as early as February across the city) these beautiful trees cover the city in pinks, whites and even yellows with areas of interest including Vanier Park, Queen Elizabeth Park, Stanley Park and the Nitobe Memorial Gardens. Cherry blossoms can be seen across Vancouver with over 30,000 trees to be seen. raccoons have a sibiotic relationship with a raccoon. it is a parasitic relationship, because the humans hunt the raccoons, and the raccoons die. this is bad for the raccoons, and good for the humans, which is plus-minus, and parasitic.Two of its most distinctive features are its extremely dexterous front paws and its facial mask, which are themes in the mythology of several Native American tribes. Raccoons are noted for their intelligence, with studies showing that they are able to remember the solution to tasks up to three years later. The raccoon’s tracks look like tiny human hand and footprints, but raccoons can’t oppose their thumbs (fold their thumb across their palm) like humans. Despite this fact, the raccoon is very good with its hands and can open garbage cans, jars, and latches. This has made the raccoon a bit of a pest in neighborhoods. Though previously thought to be solitary, there is now evidence that raccoons engage in gender-specific social behavior. Related females often share a common area, while unrelated males live together in groups of up to four animals to maintain their positions against foreign males during the mating season, and other potential invaders. Home range sizes vary anywhere from 3 hectares for females in cities to 50 km2 for males in prairies (7 acres to 20 sq mi). After a gestation period of about 65 days, two to five young (known as a "kit", plural "kits") are born in spring. The kits are subsequently raised by their mother until dispersion in late fall. Although captive raccoons have been known to live over 20 years, their average life expectancy in the wild is only 1.8 to 3.1 years. this is sexual reproduction. Males usually travel more, especially in December when they are looking for a mate. The male does not help to raise the babies and may even attack them, so the female chases him off. She has three to seven babies around February. When they are ten weeks old, the babies leave the den and start following their mother around and learning to hunt. They will stay near her until the fall, when they set out on their own. In the north, where it gets very cold, the babies may stay with their mother over the winter. Raccoons do not hibernate, but in the north, they eat a lot in the fall so they get very fat. They can use that fat for energy to keep warm in the winter when they stay inside their tree den (a hollow space inside a tree.) Raccoons are one of the few animals that have adapted extremely well to humans invading their territory. Their broad diet allows them to eat almost anything that is available. They often forage through trash for food and their hand-like paws make this task much easier. They are able to easily grasp objects such as trash can lids. Although they do not technically hibernate, they do put on extra weight in the fall that helps them make it through the winter. When it is extremely cold outside, they will sometimes stay in their dens for extended periods and burn the fat that they have stored. Read more: Cherry Blossom Tree Species in Vancouver, British Columbia http://www.venturevancouver.com/blog/che...... Spotted on: Oct 18, 2011 Submitted on: Oct 18, 2011

Habitat:

niche: prey on domestic animals, or consume cultivated fruits, vegetables, and other crops. Great horned owls, bobcats, and domestic dogs prey on raccoons. Raccoons live in North and Central America. They like to live by water and they swim well. They will also wash their food if they live by water. Raccoons have been moving north because the climate is better. raccoons impact their environment by doing these things. These nocturnal foragers use lightning-quick paws to grab crayfish, frogs, and other aquatic creatures. On land, they pluck mice and insects from their hiding places and raid nests for tasty eggs.

Notes:

references: http://sibr.com/mammals/M153.html http://library.thinkquest.org/TQ0312800/... www.venturevancouver.com www.jea.com www.edublogs.org www.brighthub.com http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/an...