Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
Because of rabies and roundworm, if for no other reason, never, NEVER handle raccoons, including
orphaned babies wandering about! Instead, call a qualified wildlife rehabilitator. Most state wildlife
agencies have a list of licensed rehabilitators who know how to handle wildlife safely without undue
risk to themselves.
The raccoon's scientific name comes from the Greek:
Procyon
descends from
pro,
before, and
kyon,
dog, while
lotor
means one that washes. Folklore has it that raccoons are very clean animals that wash
their food before eating it, and it's true that when water is handy, raccoons will often dip food in it—
hence the scientific name of
lotor.
No one is quite sure why raccoons behave in this fashion, although it's certainly not a sign of clean-
liness. It's been postulated that raccoons sometimes dunk their food because they lack salivary glands
and need to moisten the food for easier swallowing. That theory is incorrect, since raccoons have nor-
mal salivary glands, but, saliva or not, perhaps wetting down comestibles renders them easier for the
animal to devour. This raccoon trait remains something of a mystery, but one fact is abundantly clear:
raccoons eagerly consume large quantities of food far from water without any scruples whatsoever.
That should abolish any notions about raccoon cleanliness.
The name
raccoon
derives from the Algonquian
arakunem,
meaning “handscratcher,” or “one that
scratches with its hands.” Early European settlers soon corrupted this into
raccoon,
and raccoon it has
been ever since, but the animals are often simply referred to as coons, especially in rural areas.
Native Americans were keen students of the habits and abilities of the various wildlife species with
which they had contact. This should come as no surprise; after all, animals were sources of food, cloth-
ing, tools, and other necessities. It's interesting to note, then, that the multitude of names given the rac-
coon by numerous Native American tribes nearly all make reference to its front paws. These generally
translate into terms such as “touch things,” “pick things up,” “grasper,” “handle things,” and so on.
These names pay tribute to the raccoon's clever front paws, which are indeed almost as useful as
hands. Those nimble little fingers are extraordinarily dexterous, and the coon's ability to pry, twist,
lift, turn, push, jiggle, and otherwise gain entrance into containers and various other places where it
shouldn't be is nearly legendary!
This manual dexterity is coupled with a great deal of apparent intelligence. Intelligence is a difficult
thing to measure; witness the huge disagreements among experts over what constitutes human intelli-
gence, let alone intelligence in other species. Still, most animal experts would concede that coons rate
rather high on the intelligence scale. Put together the cleverness to devise ways to get into things with
the dexterity to accomplish them, and you have the combination that can make the raccoon so destruct-
ive in many situations.
On cursory inspection, the raccoon's appearance might suggest at least a passing relationship to
dogs, foxes, coyotes, and other members of the dog tribe. Indeed, the genus name
Procyon—
“before
dog”—makes a bow in that direction. Raccoons are more closely related to bears than to dogs, however.
