Image Credit: MorrisS - Image Copyright: Public DomainProcyon Lotor
The scientific name for a raccoon is Procyon lotor. Procyon is derived from the Greek words "pro" and "kyon." Pro means before and kyon means dog. Raccoons were given this name because they were thought to be closely related to dogs. Lotor is derived from a Latin word which means washer. Raccoons were given this name because they have a habit of washing their food before they eat it.
Identification
A raccoon is an omnivorous mammal. Omnivorous means that they eat both meat and plants. Raccoons have a gray body with black and white markings. They are most easily identified by their black bandit mask marking on their face and their black striped tail. Raccoons weigh between 12 and 35 pounds. They are intelligent mammals and they can manipulate items with their hands well, making it easy for them to get into things if they want to. Raccoons are found in the wild in their native areas throughout most of the United States, Canada and South America. Raccoons have been introduced to parts of Asia and Europe and can now be found in those areas as well. Loss of natural habitat has forced some raccoons to live in cities away from their natural habitat.
Mating
Female raccoons reach sexual maturity at one year of age. Males reach sexual maturity at two years of age. Mating season for raccoons takes place between February and June. Raccoons are polygynandrous, meaning that they will mate with many different mates. Except for during mating season, the males and females do not live together. During mating season, the males go out in search of females. A male may mate with many different females during the mating season.
Kits
The female remains pregnant for 63 to 65 days. The female raccoon gives birth in her den. In the wild, her den is built in a tree. Raccoons that are forced to live in city areas, will make their den in any hidden area that they can find. She gives birth to three to seven babies. Baby raccoons are called kits. The mother raccoon takes care of her kits by herself. The male is long gone by the time the kits are born. The kits are born with their eyes closed. Their eyes do not open until they are about three weeks old. The mother nurses her kits and cares for them in the den. The kits are weaned at about 70 days old. When the kits are around five months old, they go out and forage for food with their mother. The kits often stay with their mother and live in her den until they are one year old. When they do move out, they often make a den nearby to their mothers. (Nowak, 1991; Wilson and Ruff, 1999)
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