Handbook of Nature-Study · Lesson LXI · Topic 7: Wild mammals: bat, skunk, raccoon and fox
61. The raccoon
Goal: Your child can describe the raccoon's masked face, ringed tail and hand-like feet, and find and describe raccoon tracks near water.
You'll need
- A walk along a stream, pond or lake shore with soft mud
- A ruler
- The book's photographs of raccoons
- A nature notebook and a pencil (colored pencils if you have them)
What's in the book
Comstock's story of the raccoon: its mischievous masked face, its life in hollow trees near streams, its night hunting, its handling of food, and pet coons. Then Lesson LXI: leading thought, a method with writing topics, and ten groups of questions. An unnumbered section on the wolf follows the lesson.
The lesson, step by step
When and where
Raccoons are active at night from spring to fall and stay in their dens in the coldest weeks. The best place to look is soft mud at the edge of a stream or pond, where they come to hunt for crayfish and frogs. Their tracks look like small handprints.
Safety first
Safety first: never touch, feed or try to catch a wild mammal, even one that looks tame, sleepy or hurt. Bats, skunks, raccoons and foxes can carry rabies. If one acts strangely, or is out in daylight acting sick, move away and tell an adult, who can call the local animal control or wildlife office.
Don't touch raccoon droppings: they can carry a worm that is dangerous to people. Never feed raccoons, and keep trash cans closed.
Keep the big idea in mind
Comstock's "leading thought" is the one idea the lesson is meant to lead to. Read it to yourself now, and save it to share at the end, after your child has looked and answered:
The raccoon lives in hollow trees or caves along the banks of streams. It sleeps during the day and seeks its food at night. It sleeps during the winter.
Comstock's "ideal method" was a pet coon. Today we use tracks, the book's pictures, and her story instead.
Hunt for tracks
Walk slowly along the muddy edge and look for prints with five long toes.
Where have you found raccoon tracks? How do they differ from those of fox or dog? How far are the footprints apart? Can you see the heel and toe prints?
What is the size of the track, the length, the breadth?
Measure one track and the distance between two of them.
Hands like ours
Describe the coon's feet. How many toes on the front feet? How many on the hind feet? How does this differ from the cat and dog? How do the front and hind feet differ in appearance? Can both be used as hands?
Why do raccoons like to live near the water? What do they find of interest there?
The masked face
Look at the photographs in the book.
Describe the coon's face. How is it marked? What is its expression?
How do coons arrange themselves for a nap in a tree? How do they cover the head? How is the tail used?
Put it into words
Ask your child to tell you where a raccoon spends its day and its night. Then read the leading thought aloud.
For a writing day, Comstock suggests this topic: "The Autobiography of a Coon One Year Old."
Nature notebook
Draw a front track and a hind track side by side, life size if you measured them, and label the toes. Add a sketch of the masked face and ringed tail, and where and when you found the tracks.
Tip
What we know now: Comstock asks how raccoons "prepare their meat before eating it." People long believed raccoons wash their food. Scientists now think that when a raccoon dabbles its food in water it is mostly feeling it with its very sensitive hands.