Nursery Notes

tanjabrittonwriter 47 Comments

There is a tree cavity at Fountain Creek Regional Park just south of Colorado Springs which has served as raccoon nursery for a number of years and I never walk past it without taking a look. The Common Raccoon (Procyon lotor) is native only to the Americas and is usually nocturnal, except during the breeding season or while caring for its young. When I saw a fuzzy face looking back at me on May 7 of last year (!) in bright daylight, I stayed for a while and was rewarded with a remarkable spectacle: My first-ever sighting of a Mama Raccoon “taking” her baby for a walk—by carrying it by the nape of its tiny neck, as a cat carries its kittens.

Not only was she moving her offspring, called a kit, but she did so by walking down the tree headfirst, something few mammals can manage. Raccoons do so by rotating the hindfoot 180 degrees. Not only are their feet nimble, so are their hands. They have a deft (though not opposable) thumb and four fingers and are able to turn doorknobs and open refrigerators, the reason they often get into trouble with humans. The animal’s common name reflects this dexterity as raccoon is derived from aroughcoune, an Algonquin word meaning “he scratches with his hands.”

Raccoons are often observed “washing” their food in water, but the objective isn’t to clean it, but rather to examine it closely to determine which parts are edible. This activity is responsible for their scientific name, lotor, which means “washer” in Neo-Latin, and for the animal’s German name, Waschbär, literally “wash bear”.

January through March represents mating season and the male may stay with the female for a week after the deed before wandering off to look for more opportunities to sow his wild oats. After 63 days, between one and eight young are usually born in April or May. Their eyes are closed for around three weeks and they get active when seven to eight weeks old. The mother carries them for a while to different locations but once they are a little older, they accompany her on their own to explore their world.

I don’t know how old this particular raccoon kit was, where Mom was taking it, or how many more might have been hiding in the den, awaiting a later pick-up. But during another walk at the same destination about six weeks later with a friend, on June 23, we were elated to come across two raccoons of adolescent age not too far from the tree cavity.

I couldn’t help but jump to the conclusion that they were siblings, and one of them represented the individual in Mama’s snout shown in the photos at the top. They appeared care-free and inquisitive, exploring the trail and seeming to be engaged in a game of hide-and-seek with us.

Both of these joyful encounters were fortuitous, but also served as reminders that one has to be out and about in nature in order to experience similarly memorable moments. So let’s keep exploring our favorite places and see what we can find. 😊

🦝🦝🦝🦝🦝🦝🦝🦝🦝🦝🦝🦝🦝

PS: May is a busy month and I will take a break from blogging for the next several weeks.

47 thoughts on “Nursery Notes”

  2. Entzückend Tanja.
    Leider wird der Waschbär, der hier vor 100 Jahren ausgesetzt wurde, als Plage bezeichnet.
    Erst niedlich und dann unwillkommen. Sehr traurig ist das.
    Hab eine gute Pause. Bis denn 🙋🏼‍♀️
    Liebe Grüße Brigitte

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    • Danke für den Kommentar, liebe Brigitte. Leider ist es halt so, daß manche Tiere (und auch Pflanzen) am falschen Ort das normale Gleichgewicht aus dem Lot bringen können. Das war natürlich nicht beabsichtigt, kommt aber so oft vor, daß wir es eigentlich besser wissen müßten.

      Ich grüße Dich herzlich zurück und wünsche Dir noch einen schönen Wonnemonat.

      Tanja

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  7. You got me wondering about a raccoon’s “mask.” One website says this:

    “Though the reasons the raccoon developed dark circles around its eyes are not entirely known, there are a couple of theories. One thought is that these markings aid in nighttime vision and reduce glare from incoming light. Another of the mask’s possible functions is as an identifier. Though you might not be able to tell one raccoon from another, the subtle differences in the facial patterns across individuals may help raccoons identify each other.”

    Sounds to me like “The reasons… are not entirely known” should be replaced with “We have no idea….”

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  8. What a wonderful series of images.

    Raccoons are among the most resourceful creatures I’ve ever encountered. Nothing they do surprises me anymore.

    You are so right. If we want to see incredible things in Nature, we need to visit – Nature!

    Enjoy your break. We’ll wait here.

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  9. Cute little critters in their own environment. It’s only when they mix with humans when the trouble starts, for both of us. I’m curious who is really the more resourceful…

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    • Cute and resourceful they are without a doubt, Brad. You are right: their resourcefulness isn’t always appreciated by us humans because we consider the effects detrimental. I think they daily prove their superior adaptability and resourcefulness.

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  12. What a privilege to spot the mama racoon and her baby. Great photos that capture the moment perfectly. And although I was aware that racoons are unpopular with some humans, I didn’t know they can open doors and refrigerators, so I thank you for improving my knowledge of a creature I’ve only seen a couple of times over the course of maybe 25 wildlife-viewing visits to North America.

    Enjoy your break from blogging, but please come back soon with more posts like this one! 🙂

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    • A great privilege, indeed, I felt very lucky–twice. 😊

      We once had a raccoon break into our cooler we accidentally left outside while camping, and steal a big chunk of cheese. As is often the case in “undesirable” interactions between humans and wildlife, it’s humans’ irresponsible behavior that creates problems for wildlife.

      Thank you for the good wishes and encouraging comment, all are much appreciated. 🙏

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  13. What a wonderful series of photos, and such wonderful experiences. I love raccoons, although they do irritate me from time to time; one night, a raccoon boarded the boat I was one and stole all of our Pepperidge Farm cookies.

    I will mention that, occasionally, being out in nature isn’t necessary to witness some of her wonders. The first time I saw a raccoon carrying one of her young, I was sitting at my dining room table. I lived in a second floor apartment that had a tree growing up past its balcony. I’d been putting out some corn in the woods behind my place for the deer, and one day I discovered a raccoon was visiting. I didn’t think much about it until the night I found a raccoon staring at me through my glass dining room door, with a young raccoon in her mouth. After a while of looking at one another, she headed down the tree with the baby in her mouth. Only a few minutes later, here she came again, with a different baby. I was convinced she was showing them to me, like a proud mother, but maybe she was simply in the process of showing them one dependable place to find food!

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  14. Hello Tanja,
    Oh my, what a wonderful experience, and what a privilege to get a glimpse into their personal world.
    This made my day, thank you my friend. I completely understand the necessity to take a break from blogging and focus on real life. I hope you will have more encounters like this one. Take care!

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  17. I somehow missed this, but what a darling set of photos. Those mama raccoons are amazing! Can you imagine holding a baby, while walking/scaling down vertically? I’ve been a volunteer at Austin Wildlife Rescue (great group, btw) and my first gig with them was cleaning the cages/feeding the young kits that were, for whatever reason, separated from mama. They were so interesting and so curious about me. I’d be at one cage, the the little guys in the next cage would reaching out to touch me, feel my shirt. It was a little disconcerting, but they were just so curious.

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    • I appreciate your comment, Tina and share your amazement at mama raccoon’s feats. Your raccoon experience at the animal rescue sounds utterly enchanting, I would enjoy getting to know them better and having them check me over.

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  20. Just too wonderful, Tanja! I’m in the midst of a busy spring, and my posts will be sporadic, but I couldn’t help a quick visit to see what you were up to. See you in a while!
    -Julie

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    • Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to drop by and leave your comment, Julie. I hope it’s a good-busy spring and you are enjoying daily discoveries in your garden and surroundings. Happy June to you.

      Tanja

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  22. Ahhhh, the Racoon, probably the single species that has the ability to make me melt in baby mode and absolutely enraged in adult mode. Here in the country it is a constant battle with these creatures. The mommas are now on to my weaknesses and will always bring their babies with them whenever they decide to wreck havoc on my landscape or feeders as they know my mantra of no harm shall happen to babies or their parents if they are accompanied. Once out of that phase then “offenders” have to be dealt with. I always have to smile whenever I’m out running and see the mom carrying their newborns across the road or trail… the kits always have their feet out like “Mom this is embarrassing, let me walk on these here feety thingies.”

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    • Sorry to hear about your conflicted relationship with raccoons, Brian. We occasionally have them come into the yard and eat the birdseed that has fallen on the ground, but they don’t create problems. As a matter of fact, I probably see more dead raccoons that have been run over by vehicles than lives ones, which makes me very sad.

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