Photo © 2009 Ruby Jung and licensors. All rights reserved.

26 - Raccoons Are Smitten with Love

About this time raccoons' hearts turn lightly to love. Males prowl the edges of females' territories seeking receptive partners. Sometimes on quiet nights at this time of year you can hear their odd yowls and grunts as they vocalize (often quite loudly) the raccoon equivalent of sweet nothings. Once a bond is established the couple will occasionally travel together for up to a week - which is the only time adult raccoons engage in social activities. But once mating has been successful the female drives the male away and both resume a solitary existence again - hunting, fishing and scavenging food.

For the record, their scientific name is Procyon lotor.

Offsite Links:

• World Wide Raccoon Web. Cute pictures and more
• Beartracker's Racoon Tracks, scat, and notes
• Universitiy of Michigan's Animal Diversity Web Northern Raccoon page

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