It seems that very little is documented about the courtship and mating behavior of northern raccoons (Procyon lotor) other than the fact that mating occurs in the spring. So, while I’m not 100% sure what is happening in the video below, it seems likely that these behaviors – posturing to each other, grooming, etc. – could be associated with courtship. Prior to April 14, I’d captured quite a few video clips of a solitary raccoon circling the perimeter of this…
Northern raccoons (Procyon lotor) are mainly nocturnal, so we seldom get to observe their antics outside of their exploits with residential trash cans. But I recently captured an entertaining scene of two young raccoons, called kits, chasing each other up and down a tree in a local tupelo swamp on my game camera. Females typically bare between 2 and 5 young, which are born blind and only lightly furred, although even in these first moments their “masks” are already visible….
Thoughts of salt marsh wildlife typically evoke images of great blue herons, ospreys, hermit crabs and various species of fish. Seldom due people consider the mammals that inhabit a salt marsh, particularly during low tide when the exposed marsh platform and mud flats provide considerable opportunities for foraging, but many mammals do regularly utilize these habitats for foraging, including raccoons. Raccoons (Procyon lotor) are found everywhere in Massachusetts, except on Nantucket. Although we’re all familiar with raccoons’ reputation as masked…