The raccoon is a mid-sized mammal, common to North America. He is known for his striking markings and unique ability to manipulate a variety of props and items with his paws. Raccoons are highly intelligent and crafty critters. This intelligence, when paired with their innate adaptability and relentless drive to survive, has allowed their species to increase far and wide.
The raccoon that is common to Ontario is easily identifiable by his prominent black mask and ringed tail markings. He generally weighs between 15-50 pounds, and measures approximately 3.5 feet long, tail included. With an average lifespan that ranges widely from 1 to 13 years depending on environmental conditions, a single raccoon can make quite a mark on his surroundings.
Let’s follow a raccoon – we’ll call him Chuck – through a few highlights of his life.
Little Chuck starts his life in the spring, snuggly and warm (in your attic, perhaps) with his four little brothers. For the first three weeks of his life, he is helpless, entirely dependent on his mother’s care, Chuck cannot see and has limited ability to move around. Over the next month and a half, Chuck steadily grows and gains baby raccoon skills, until he’s ready to begin accompanying his mother outside of the den for further life lessons. Little Chuck spends the first nine months of his life like this, following and learning until he is ready to strike out on his own.
Now that Chuck has fully grown, he can be found foraging for the fruits, foliage, insects, small birds – and sometimes garbage – which he’ll need to fuel his daily activities. He will fall into a predictable cycle, closely linked to the changing seasons, which will serve as the framework for his life. Mating in the mid-late winter, foraging and frolicking in the spring and throughout the remainder of the year.
Chuck and the vast majority of his kind will go about their entire lives without interfering with our own. Due to the nature of our joint occupation of the same habitat, though, sometimes we are bound to find ourselves and our raccoon friends in conflict.
