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Exploring the beautiful nature of California


California Nature: Raccoon


The raccoon, or simply "coon", is one animal that most people are well-acquainted with. Raccoons are common throughout the state and occur everywhere there are trees, the cavities of which they often use. The raccoon (Procyon lotor) is about the size of a small dog, and is most notable for its black mask and bushy ringed tail. Both raccoons and ringtails can be found in California nature.

Ringtail cats are not related to the cat family but are really members of the raccoon family.  Ringtails are cat sized animals that resemble a mix between a fox and a raccoon.  The face is fox-like, with a pointed snout, and the body is raccoon-like and elongated.  The top side of the animal is yellow to dark brown or black, and the underside is a whitish buff.  The ears and eyes are large and the eyes are ringed by white fur.  The tail is very bushy and can be longer than the head and body in many cases.  It is also marked by 14-16 alternating black and white bands for which the animal is named

There is no mistaking a raccoon for any other animal. Its stout, bear-like body, prominent black mask and heavily furred, ringed tail all are distinctive. Adult raccoons are about 2 to 3 feet long (including their 10-inch tail) and weigh anywhere from 10 to 30 pounds.
raccoons can be pests but they are found in California nature Raccoons are one of the few wild species that appears to have benefited from contact with humans, and they have adapted remarkably well to life in our cities and towns. Wild animals who are willing and able to live among humans are usually generalists, tolerating widely different habitats and eating many different foods. Studies show that the densities raccoons achieve in urban areas can be up to 20 times that typical in rural environments.

Raccoons are not fussy about their choice of food. Although classified as a carnivore, the raccoon eats as much or more plant as animal matter during the year. When fruits, acorns, vegetables and seeds are ripe and available, they will feed heavily on them. At other times and places they will specialize in eggs, insects, crayfish, frogs, fish and small mammals. They'll eat dead animals that they encounter; they'll raid bird feeders and pet food bowls when they're kept full; and they'll check out garbage cans that aren't secured..

A raccoon's color generally is a grizzled salt-and-pepper gray and black with a light belly. Often the "white" hairs are noticeably yellowish. Both all-black and all-white animals sometimes occur.
Raccoons are usually active at night, and by day they retire to dens or resting sites. Dens are made above ground in tree cavities, chimneys and attics, as well as underground in old woodchuck burrows, storm sewers or crawl spaces under buildings. When they feel secure enough, raccoons may simply lie in thickets or swamps on open ground.

At least as intelligent as cats or dogs, raccoons possess far greater manual dexterity as well as a highly developed sense of touch. In fact, the word "raccoon" is derived from arakun, an Algonquin word meaning "he scratches with his hands."

It was once thought that raccoons' familiar "washing" of foods demonstrated hygienic instincts. But in truth, raccoons don't wash everything they eat. They manipulate food, dunking and soaking it when water is available, and so appear to be washing it. However, when water is not convenient, they use many of the same motions in handling food. The behavior probably more accurately reflects a need to tactually experience things than it does to clean them.
Ringtail cats are not cats but part of the raccoon family in California nature The Ringtail (Bassariscus astutus) is a mammal of the raccoon family, thus not actually a cat. Also known as the Ringtail cat, Ring-tailed cat or Miner's cat, it is native to arid regions of North America, including parts of California.

Smaller than a housecat, the Ringtail is buff to dark brown in color with white underparts and a flashy black and white striped tail that has 14-16 white and black stripes, which is longer than the rest of its body. The claws are short, straight, and semi-retractable. Ringtail eyes are large and purple, each surrounded by a patch of light fur.

The range of the ringtail in the United States covers southwestern Oregon, California, southern Nevada, southern Utah, western Colorado, and southern Kansas through Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas In California, the ringtail is distributed in most all parts of the state. The distribution occurs mainly on the Pacific drainage slope from the Oregon boundary west of the longtiude of Mount Shasta to Ventura County. The distribution of these species can be considered continuous. The home range of the ringtail occurs from about sea level to 9600 feet in elevation.  In California, ranges each animal covered varied from 44-515 hectares or 109-1280 acres
Ringtails are primarily carnivorous but also do eat other food like plants, fruit, and insects.  Their diets generally consist of small mammals (rodents, rabbits, squirrels), small birds, insects (spiders, grasshoppers, crickets, centipedes, scorpions), and fruits (persimmon, mistletoe, hackberries).  As well, the diet varies throughout the year.  In the fall, it consists of mostly plants and insects; in winter, mammals and birds; and in summer, insects

Ringtails mate in late winter and a litter of three or four young are born in May or June. The gestation period is 45–50 days, during which the male will procure food for the female. There will be 2-4 cubs in a litter. The cubs open their eyes after a month, and will hunt for themselves after four months. They reach sexual maturity at ten months. The ringtail's lifespan in the wild is about seven years

The ankle joint of the ringtail cat is flexible and able to rotate over 180 degrees, a trait helping make it an agile climber. Their considerable tail provides balance for negotiating narrow ledges and limbs, even allowing them to reverse directions by performing a cartwheel. Ringtails also can ascend narrow passages by pressing all feet on one wall and their back against the other or pressing both right feet on one wall and both left feet on the other, and wider cracks or openings by ricocheting between the walls.
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