Racoon

Description

Racoons are small, with long grey-brown coloured coats, and with a characteristic dark mask around their eyes and a ringed tail. They have 40 teeth that are very well adapted to omnivorous feeding. They have 5 fingers/toes on each leg, which they use to pick up food and climb the trees. They are plantigrade meaning they walk with the entire sole of the foot on the ground and they are not adapted to making large jumps. The male is slightly larger than the female. 

Behaviour

They are nocturnal and feed alone. They rest in tree hollows during the day and join together in the breeding season. The male leaves the places in which he normally moves to find females. After mating, the females are left alone and after gestation of about 65 days, they have a litter of 2-5 cubs.

Interesting facts

They are victims of the illegal trafficking of exotic species: in the 1980s, over 5 million animals of these species were sold. They became a fashionable pet in Spain as they are very cute and friendly when they are cubs. But when they reach maturity, they become aggressive and those pets were therefore released to the wild, becoming an invasive species. They adapt perfectly to living in urban areas and finding food in these areas, displacing other autochthonous species.