Immature Raccoons
Immature Raccoons
 |
Copyright Barbara Samuelson 1998
These immature raccoons (Procyon lotor), were huddled in one the gun emplacements below Hawk Hill. This spot is on the way up to the Hill if you want to take the "scenic" route. They looked pretty frightened and like they were waiting for their mother to get back to them. The habitat of the raccoon includes wooded streams, deserts, along water courses and in tree-lined areas.
Please, when you are out and see a wild animal begging for food, don't feed it. It does more harm than good.
It is not a good idea to feed any wildlife. Raccoons are quite capable of feeding themselves without our help. If they come to depend upon our feeding them, they will then be liable to be unafraid of us and get killed. Because people feed other raccoons, they learn that there might be food near roads where cars zip by at high speeds. Many raccoons get hit.
MYTHS ABOUT RACCOONS
|
MYTHS
|
FACTS
|
| Raccoons are strictly nocturnal so if you see a raccoon out in the daytime it is rabid | No - while they are usually more active at night, many will venture out during the day ~ particularly females foraging for food who may have a litter of babies back in the den. But they are a wild animal and could be rabid. |
| Raccoons do not have salivary glands | No - they do - that is where their saliva comes from. |
| Raccoons hibernate in the winter | No - they go through a period of decreased activity in the winter, which is referred to as daily Torpor. |
| Raccoons are all carriers of rabies | No - and the majority of them do not have rabies, but if they do catch it will they eventually die from it like all mammals. |
| Raccoons always wash their food | No - it appears that they are feeling their food - perhaps checking for things that should not be present on the food or could harm them. |
| Raccoons are really big rodents | No - as members of the Procyonidae family, their closest relatives are the ringtails, coatis and coatimundis. |
| Raccoons eat cats | No - they don't. But they can injure cats if they must fight them off to get at any cat food left outdoors. Bring your cat and it's food inside. |
| Raccoons don't have emotions | All creatures feel love and trust and contentment and fear and anger and loneliness. |
| Raccoons make good pets | No - raccoons do not make good pets - and while some may consider this a generalization, it is true. |
More Raccoon Information