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- Appearance
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Raccoons measure between 41 and 71 cm, not including the tail which can measure between 19.2 and 40.5 cm. The most characteristic physical feature of the raccoon is the area of black fur around the eyes which contrasts sharply with the surrounding white face coloring.
- Habit
- Raccoons are most active at night and only travel where food is available and the prevailing weather conditions. The adult male only travels in about a one mile in diameter. Adult females and their young inhabit smaller areas. Raccoons will den in abandoned buildings, old beaver lodges or bank dens, car bodies, wood piles, abandoned coyote dens, chimneys and haystacks.
- Diet
- The raccoons diet consists of many different types of food. While its diet in spring and early summer consists mostly of insects, worms and other animals already available early in the year, it prefers fruits and nuts, such as acorns, and walnuts which emerge in late summer and autumn and represent a rich calorie source for building up fat needed for winter.
- Reproduction
- Raccoons usually mate between late January and mid-March, triggered by increasing daylight. During the mating season, males roam their home ranges in search of females in an attempt to court them during the three-to four-day-long period when conception is possible. Mating can last over an hour and is repeated over several nights
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