It’s widely known that the raccoon has a reputation for cunning and skill. All these stories from whatever source have but one theme, namely, the subtlety and cunning of the animal after you study it, will make it very apparent this rascal is not only sneaky and a bandit, but also an animal to be admired. I don’t hunt them as a game animal, but they have always fascinated me.
The raccoon eats just about everything. His omnivorous eating habits has had a lot to do with the development of the raccoon’s hunting habits. He’ll plunder the farmer’s cornfield, he’ll snatch eggs from the woodpecker’s nest, he gathers many kinds of nuts, grubs and roots, digs out turtles and frogs, goes berry hunting when they’re in season, raids the chicken houses, is a great fisherman and clam digger. All these and a hundred other nocturnal activities shows the animal’s great ability to adapt so that it’s hard to think of him and his bunch starving.
In captivity, he acts no different than he would in the wild. You’ll never see a raccoon pout when the grub is put in front of him, and he never questions the cooking or the cook. He eats a good meal, takes a nap for about half an hour, and then he’s ready for another meal as big as the first. Fruit, bread, jellies, honey, popcorn, canned meats, dog food, cat food, fish, molluscs, small crustaceans, rodents, and some green vegetables gives a sufficient variety for feeding in captivity. There’s very few foods he’ll turn his nose up at.
The mobility of his fingers, with the sharp and partly retractable claws that equip his hand for climbing as any other purposes. The bushy tail acts as a balancing appendage. The broad tubercular molars, thick with cutting edges remind you of a cat. The pointed and double edged canines are all indicative of the physical resourcefulness of this animal, not to mention its ability to hold its own against contenders of equal size.
A simple definition of The Outdoorsman is just a southern gent!
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