BC-Nature-Spring-2014-web-final

Raccoons in Urban Areas - Living with Wildlife
By Penny Hall
Mother and Kit in the Tidal Marsh
With a habitat ranging from mountainous areas,
coastal marshes and urban areas, most people are
familiar with raccoons. The raccoon is highly adaptable,
sociable, curious and smart. Their masked faces can be
seen in a variety of places as they forage for food, rest in
trees, or enjoy a midday meal.
A mother and her two kits were recently occupying a
small island in the Sechelts tidal marsh. Taking advantage
of the low water levels, they were probing the mud along
the water’s edge with their dexterous long fingers looking
for fresh plant shoots, frogs, crayfish, fish, snails or other
aquatic life. After hunting and nibbling on the found delicacies,
they retreated up the bank to groom and rest in
the sunshine. The youngsters began to play, while their
mother sat and kept guard.
Raccoons are omnivorous and eat a wide variety of
plants and animals. Although their preference seems to
be dining along the shoreline, they will also feed on fruit,
insects, slugs, eggs, mice, rats and squirrels. Their sheltering
on the small island may have contributed to the
obvious decline of the rat population that had surged to
an all time high.
Urban living offers a couple of other options for food.
Raccoons can’t resist the tantalizing odors of food in garbage
cans and pet food. Once they find this easily accessible,
readily available food source they will return. Foraging
for food from these sources causes a conflict between
wildlife, people and pets. Point in case - earlier in the day,
I had watched the family being chased from a nearby
Book Review
The Devils Curve
Reviewed by: J. Sprague
Authors: Kopechy, Arno.
D & M Publishers
306 pp.
Soft Cover - $29.95
condo by a broom yielding, yelling woman; in the afternoon, I
had to stop two boys from stoning the family. The boy’s reasoning
“they deserve it, they’ll only hurt the ducks.” Their attitude was
probably instilled by people who have had to clean up garbage
messes or had an injured pet. Yes, they will defend themselves
out of self-preservation; to protect their family; to protect their
food source that magically appears every night in a bowl. They
will definitely defend themselves if cornered.
The most common natural predators of the Raccoon are Coyotes
and Bobcats. Both Eagles and Great Horned Owls also prey
on the young coons.
In nature Raccoon den in tree cavities, old stumps, abandoned
burrows, rock crevices, caves and brush piles. In urban areas they
need to find alternative solutions and will seek out den space in
attics, crawl spaces, sheds, barn lofts or any other suitable area.
The local wildlife rehab centre gets many calls in the spring, asking
them to remove the raccoons from homes or outbuildings. The
best way to deal with this problem is to close off any openings
prior to the animals breeding season. By doing so, you will also
prevent squirrels, chipmunks, rats, mice and birds from nesting
in the buildings. Always make sure that an animal or bird hasn’t
already taken up residency before closing off access.
Raccoons breed anywhere from late January into March. The
females will only mate with one male. Gestation averages around
64 days and a usual litter is two to five kits. The kits are blind and
deaf for the first three weeks, but grow quickly. Their care and
rearing is done exclusively by the mother, who will teach them
how to forage and find shelter. Once the youngsters leave the
den, the family doesn’t return but the kits usually stay with the
mother through the first winter. Motherly instinct is quite strong
and the female will become aggressive if separated from her
young.
The raccoons that live in BC do not carry rabies, but they do
carry a roundworm parasite that is harmful to humans and is
present in their feces. They have a tendency to use a community
bathroom site and will continually return to the same site to
eliminate. If you find you have a raccoon latrine on your property
where you might come in contact with the feces, cleanup should
be done with care.
Raccoons have the same basic needs as we do; food, shelter and
water. They are only trying to fulfill those needs and look after
their families just as any living being does (or should do). Don’t
give the masked bandit a bad rap; take steps to avoid conflicts
with this beautiful creature and in doing so, you will also be taking
steps to avoid conflicts with other wildlife as well. Garbage cans,
compost boxes, bird feeders, uncleaned barbecues and pet food
will attract a variety of night raiders including bears, dogs, coyote
and raccoon. By limiting access to human food sources and denning
sites, locking pet doors and keeping pets indoors at night,
you will be making great strides towards protecting your pets and
living harmoniously with wildlife.
This book is not a nature guide, but environmentalists might read it for
insight on events in the rainforests of the upper Amazon (Peru and Columbia).
It is a tale of government oppression of natives, and exploitation by
mining companies, some of them Canadian.
The "Devil's Curve" is on a main highway of western Peru. There, a huge
sit-in by local people is ended by a hail of bullets from hundreds of soldiers.
The book continues with tales of the people, government repression, and corporate land-grabs. The
story is told by a young Canadian author who lived and travelled with the people for many months. It is
difficult to keep in mind the geography since the story jumps from place to place. Similarly it is hard to
keep in mind the individuals in the stories. Despite that, I recommend the book as a lively and shocking
education about ongoing degradation of headwater Amazonian ecosystems and native societies.
BCnature Spring 2014 25