Talk:Raccoon
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Contents |
[edit] Reason to keep raccoons alive
For my project at uni, we have to argue why we should keep raccoons alive as we are to debate with a group that says that they should be made extinct etc. Any help people?x
I'll tell you and listen well -- EVERY CREATURE DESERVES TO LIVE! LIVE! LIVE! We all have our own special niche, so we should LIVE! Dora Nichov 01:11, 15 February 2007 (UTC)
- Well, for one thing I know quite a few impoverished families who still live off racoons. They're meat is quite tasty and the fur makes great pelts.74.36.192.6 01:42, 16 February 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Pet Raccoons
i think that raccoons are very very very cute?
Domestic raccoons are a very bad idea. 1) They've been known to kill and eat small babies. They have wild instincts, and it should never be assumed that they'll fit into the family structure similar to, say, a cat. 2) Raccoons can gnaw holes through the front door and disappear forever. When you stand and view your door afterwards, you will wonder why you ever let it in your house. I am personally aware of the two scenarios.
I'm not sure, but if agitated, raccoons are known to have attacked with crows. There was a dead crow in my backyard, and the raccoon is the prime suspect.
Yeah, they're fierce and dangerous. They also carry diseases. So remember: CUTE ISN'T TAME!163.21.216.253 06:48, 12 June 2006 (UTC)
Schof 17:42, 18 June 2006 (UTC) Removed "Once released, however, their adaptaion is remarkably quick as they have an ingrained drive as wild animals." Because it directly contracticts the statement above it. Also because the poster spelled "adaptation" incorrectly. Is there a source for this, or is it just the poster's opinion?
If you really want a pet raccoon, do what I do: put out a bowl of water and dog or cat food out near your door and wait for them to find it. :) 70.178.172.207 04:58, 2 August 2006 (UTC)
Bad idea. Never feed wild animals! Dora Nichov 09:30, 5 November 2006 (UTC)
So, not petting raccoons? Not even a little? Darn.
- They're wild and therefore always potentially dangerous. Plus there's the rabies thing.
- A family on my paper route when I was a kid had a pet raccoon, theoretically belonging to the daughter. Whenever it was in the house, chaos ensued. Once I knocked on the door to collect. Just as the mother opened it there came a crash from the next room. She dashed out and I could hear her yelling, "I told you to keep that animal out of the house!" The daughter came dashing by with a the raccoon in her arms. It was doing the sweet, innocent, confused animal expression. I didn't believe it for a moment. Those things are too intelligent for our own good. TCC (talk) (contribs) 20:53, 17 January 2007 (UTC)
They can be dangerous indeed. Dora Nichov 07:50, 31 January 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Raccoon Height: Reference Requested; Existing Article Seems Wrong
From the article: The common height for a full-grown male raccoon is 36-42 inches.
Is this correct?
From http://www.dnr.state.md.us/wildlife/raccoon.html
Adult raccoons generally measure 20-30" long from their nose to the tip of their tail and weigh from 10-35 lbs.
From http://www.und.edu/org/ndwild/raccoon.html
Adult raccoons weigh from 10 to 30 pounds. Total body length, including the tail, of an adult raccoon measures from 26 to 40 inches. Adult females are usually smaller than adult males.
From http://www.answers.com/topic/raccoon
It is 11/2 to 21/2 ft (46–76 cm) long, excluding the 8 to 12 in. (20–30 cm) tail
Also here: http://www.enature.com/flashcard/show_flash_card.asp?recordNumber=MA0029
So the question in my mind:
- Does the Wikipedia article refer to standing height (aka length) or actual height?
- Does this include the tail?
- Is there some reference for this information?
For comparison, from the Wikipedia article on Great Danes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_dane
Height and weight requirements for show dogs vary from one kennel club's standards to another, but generally the minimum weight falls between 100 to 120 lb (46 to 54 kg) and the minimum height must be between 28 and 32 inches (71 to 81 cm) at the withers. Most standards do not specify a maximum height or weight. In August 2004, a Great Dane named "Gibson" from Grass Valley, California was recognized by the Guinness Book of Records as the world's tallest dog, measuring 42.2 inches at the withers.
Schof 18:40, 26 May 2006 (UTC)
- Schof 20:30, 30 May 2006 (UTC) OK, editing article to reflect the figures shown in these links.
[edit] "Washing bear?"
I removed the Spanish name mapache from the list of foreign names meaning "washing bear". From the Spanish Wikipedia: El nombre mapache proviene del náhuatl mapactli, "que tiene manos". That is to say, it comes from a Nahuatl word meaning something like "that which has hands". I also have serious doubts about Ukranian єнот, Polish szop, and Czech mýval. They all seem too short to have two lexical morphemes - how do you fit "washing bear" into the single syllable szop? - and the words show no obvious relation to each other (despite all being Slavic languages), nor to the words for "wash" (мыть) or "bear" (медвед) in the one Slavic language I do know, Russian. All of that makes me seriously doubt that they mean anything like "washing bear". I suspect, based on my rusty knowledge of hanzi, that the Japanese and Chinese words do belong on the list. The German, Italian, Danish/Norwegian, and Dutch ones definitely look right, going by cognates, and the Finnish and Swedish ones are both attested to mean "washing bear" in the Spanish version of the article, so those are probably okay. Still, worth looking over. (My bet is people just added words to the list without actually realizing what it was supposed to be a list of. People are silly like that.) 69.140.12.199 23:45, 31 August 2006 (UTC)
- The raccoon is indeed called "wasbeer" in Dutch, which is indeed meaning "washing bear" (Dutch is my native language). Peter Maas 12:52, 1 September 2006 (UTC)
- Don't assume too much. Although I don't know the language at all, the Czech mýval does sound something like "washer" to my Ukrainian ears (from the same root as myt’ 'to wash', myvat’ would be in the imperfect grammatical aspect: 'to be washing', and myval’ m. 'one who washes').
- On the other hand I don't know where the Ukrainian єнот (jenot) comes from, but it doesn't sound like anything to do with washing to me. —Michael Z. 2006-09-13 21:01 Z
- The Finnish one is correct: "Pesu" "karhu" (Also I'm a native Finn so I should know XD but verifiable anyway.) Seko 07:43, 12 January 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Raccoons in Winter?
It would be helpful to add information on the practices of raccoons during the cold winter months. Do raccoons hibernate or do they continue to scavenge for food?
They don't hibernate, but they WILL sleep, occaisionally coming out to forage. Dora Nichov 14:05, 30 October 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Racial epithet?
Any information on how "coon" came to become a racial slur in the United States for blacks? Was this actually connected to the animal in some way, or did the term have another origin? Postdlf 16:16, 17 October 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Killer Coons
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14486644/ Thought that might be interesting to add to the article. Morhange 23:52, 23 August 2006 (UTC)
- note the article says "The attacks, all within a three-block area near the Garfield Nature Trail, are highly unusual, said Sean O. Carrell, a problem wildlife coordinator with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife"
I simply had to add this, I was amazed nothing was mentioned about it here. Obviously, raccoons are commonly known to prey upon household pets such as cats and dogs. I don't think I even have to source this, it should be obvious to anyone who has lived near these animals that they are dangerous not only for humans, but especially for cats and dogs. I actually came to this page to get more information about raccoons when I saw one lurking outside and feared for my cat. Had to put this in.
- I'm highly doubtful about this comment. My parents have had a racoon den in the back yard (not of their own choosing the raccoons were there before my folks moved in) for thrity years and therefore I've seen several generations of raccoon come and go, and not once have I heard of a raccoon /killing/ a pet (although I wouldnt be surprised if it does happen on the very rare occasion). If the pet is stupid enough to mess with an adult raccon that can't escape (unusual, raccoons are amazingly agile) then its going to get hurt, and yes possibly get killed, but the typical reaction is that the raccoon gets very unhappy and escapes and the pet runs away wondering what just happend. If a dog corners a raccon it will become agitated and move into a defensive position that pretty well every dog I've seen recognizes is dangerous. Those that persist get a swipe accross the nose with a sharp paw and if they continue the raccoon goes nuts. They rarely persist. :-) (Ive watched this process many times from my folks back porch. Its actually quite amusing to see a large dog with a hard on for a fight get a serious education in not messing with the local fauna.) Id be really surprised if the raccoon was hunting your cat, and be even more surprised if the raccoon could catch your cat. About the only thing id be worried about is if your cat is an aggressive tom and tries to a pick a fight with the raccoon, which it will lose, even then youd likely be dealing with relatively minor injuries to the cat.
- Well so maybe im wrong, as the MSNBC article documents. But even that says such incidents are rare.
Correct. Dora Nichov 11:53, 14 December 2006 (UTC)
While I don't have anything to add about dangers raccoons pose to other animals, I can attest that males will attack and eat the young of their own species. We've had a raccoon infestation, with one litter of kits being nested in an old car, and, I found to my chagrin this week, another in the corner of my basement, courtesy of a hole the mother had chewed in the crawl space cover. I was going to do the humane thing and get a live trap and try and relocate the mother and babies. This morning, however, after hearing my dog frantically barking right above the basement, I went down and chased out a male raccoon who was eating on the remains of three little raccoon kits. I've heard of other species where males will kill the young offspring of other males, to reduce competition and to further his gene line, but I wasn't aware of this behavior in raccoons. If someone can find a documented source for this, it would be good to add in the article. 204.255.227.181 20:57, 30 March 2007 (UTC)JG
[edit] Raccoon Behaviour
I'd personally like to see the claim that the dousing is not washing expanded on and sourced. My folks would put a bucket of water at the end of the garden and wed sit on the porch and watch them bring their food and wash. If it wasnt washing I kinda wonder, sure looked like washing to me. Ive also heard claims that raccoon would come from long distances to wash if they could. I was surprised to see the documentation here.
Id also like to know whether there is any documentary evidence for things like stealing shiny objects. We were always able to attract our coons by using things like the reflection off of a watch to attract them and they would on occassion try to steal silver objects like silverwear left out overnight. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 84.58.21.5 (talk) 12:01, 6 December 2006 (UTC).
They dunk food in water to remove unpleasent tastes prehaps, we don't know, but it's NOT washing! Dora Nichov 11:53, 14 December 2006 (UTC)
- I was told by keppers at a wildlife center that they didn't believe the behavior to be washing the food, but to be better feeling it. Underwater, the raccoons could tell the difference between a grape and a grape tomato. Russia Moore 04:10, 17 January 2007 (UTC)
- We get a large number of raccoons on our porch. They like to dunk their paws in water even if they're not holding food. TCC (talk) (contribs) 05:40, 17 January 2007 (UTC)
Yeah, they like water. Dora Nichov 07:52, 31 January 2007 (UTC)
- Raccoons are good swimmers and have been observed to lure pursuing dogs into water and drown them. If I can get my hands on my copy of Zeveloff's book "Raccoons: A Natural History" again, that's a good source for more info. --Kris Schnee 08:11, 15 February 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Linkspam
This article doesn't need an external links section. Please add references that cite reliable sources WP:RS. Those will most likely be published academic and news articles, not wildlife control companies seeking publicity via Wikipedia. Help us control linkspam, join WP:WPSPAM. Thank you. Jehochman (Talk/Contrib) 12:54, 19 December 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Rabies
I added more information about this disease in what otherwise is a wonderfully intelligent, charming creature. I cannot emphasize just how close to Russian Roulette is any contact at all with them, their bodily fluids or their feces. Once a person, dog or cat catches rabies they die. Trilobitealive 00:22, 25 December 2006 (UTC)
A real Rabbies case hasnt occured in CA since the 70's have to find source.
[edit] External Links
I added an external links section, with plans to add more external raccoon-related sites. I know there has been problems with this in the past, but I'm hoping by keeping the "don't add linkspam" warning linkspam will be kept down. Russia Moore 06:07, 29 January 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Other uses of raccoons
http://strasbourgcurieux.free.fr/fourrure/index.php - A fur factory in china.
(In regard to the above) I don't know where you found that link, but this is perhaps the most disturbing video I have ever seen of animal cruelty. I could not even watch it all. There really should be a warning before viewing that link. I have seen a lot of sad and twisted things in my life and am not easily disturbed, but that really upset me. There should be no mercy for people who treat animals like this. When it comes to things such as this, I don't think the ALF/Hunt Saboteurs/PETA/ETC could ever possibly go far enough.
[edit] Image dispute
If this goes on, I'll be tempted to use this one. TCC (talk) (contribs) 01:09, 24 February 2007 (UTC)
