THE RACCOON*.

 

            THOUGH several authors have described this animal under the name of Coati, to prevent its being confounded with the true Coati, or even with the Coati-mondi, we have adopted its English name. 

            The raccoon which we have had alive, and kept him twelve months, was of the size and figure of a small badger.  Its body is thick and short, and the hair long, bushy, black at the points, and gray underneath.  His head resembles that of the fox; but his ears are round and much shorter.  The eyes are large, and of a yellowish green colour.  Above the eyes, a black band runs a- [46] cross; the muzzle is slender, the nose somewhat turned up, and the upper lip advances beyond the under one.  He has, like the dog, six cutting teeth, and two canine in each jaw.  The tail is bushy, as long as the body, and marked alternately with black and white rings through its whole extent.  The fore-legs are much shorter than the hind ones; and there are five toes, armed with strong sharp claws, on each foot.  The hind feet rest so much on the heel, that the animal can elevate and support its body in a position inclined forwards.  He uses the fore-feet in carrying foot to his mouth.  But, as his toes are rigid, and have little flexibility, he uses both hands at a time in laying hold of what is given him.  Though thick and short, he is very agile:  His claws, which are sharp as thorns, enable him to climb trees with great facility.  He mounts the trunk with alacrity, and runs to the extremities of branches.  He goes by leaps, rather gambols than walks, and his movements, though oblique, are quick and light.

            This animal is a native of the southern parts of America.  He is never found in the Antient Continent; at least, those travellers who have described the animals of Africa and the East Indies make no mention of him.  But he is very common in the warm regions of America, and particularly in Jamaica,* where he lives in the mountains, from which he descends to eat the sugar [47] canes.  He appears not in Canada, nor in the northern parts of the Continent; and yet he can support excessive cold.  M. Klein+ kept one at Dantzick; and the one in my possession has passed a whole night with his feet frozen in ice, without suffering any injury.

            The raccoon softens, or rather dilutes in water every thing he intends to eat.  He throws his bread into the bason [sic] that holds his water; and, unless pressed with hunger, he removes it not till it be well soaked.  But, when very hungry, he eats dry food, or anything that is presented to him.  He searches about and eats every thing that he can find, as flesh, either crude or prepared, fishes, eggs, living fowls, grain, roots, &c.  He likewise devours all kinds of insects.  He delights in hunting spiders; and, when at liberty in the garden, he eats grasshoppers, snails, and worms.  He loves sugar, milk, and other soft kinds of nourishment, excepting fruits; but all these he rejects, when he can have flesh or fish.  He retires to a distance to obey the calls of nature.  He is familiar, and even caressing; for he leaps upon those he is fond of, playing spontaneously, and perpetually moving about with great agility.  He appears to have much of the nature of the maki, and to possess some of the qualities of the dog.  [48]

 

SUPPLEMENT.

 

            Concerning the raccoon, I have received the following communication from M. Blanquart des Salines, in a letter dated Calais, October 29. 1775.

            “My raccoon, before he came into my possession, had always been chained.  In this state of captivity, he was very gentle, but had little inclination to caress. The people of the house were all equally kind to him; but he received them differently; for what pleased him in one, he revolted against in another; and in this his conduct was invariable.

            “His chain sometimes broke; and liberty rendered him indolent.  He took possession of an apartment, would allow none to enter, and it was with some difficulty that he could again be reconciled to bondage.  Since he came under my management, I have frequently given him his liberty.  Without losing sight of him, I allowed him to walk about with his chain; and each time his gratitude was expressed by a thousand caressing gambols.  But this is by no means the case when he makes his escape himself.  He then roams about, sometimes for three or four days together, upon the roofs of the neighbouring houses, descends, during the night-time into the court-yards, enters the hen-houses, [49] strangles all the poultry, and eats their heads.  His chain does not render him more humane, but only more circumspect.  He then employs every artifice to make the fowls grow familiar with him; he permits them to partake of his victuals; and it is only after having inspired them with the highest notions of security, that he seizes one, and tears it in pieces.  Some young cats have met with the same fate.  The motions of this animal, though light, are always oblique; and I doubt whether he can overtake other animals by running.  He opens oisters [sic] with wonderful dexterity.  His sense of touching must be exquisite.  In all his little operations, he seldom uses either his nose or his eye.  For example, he makes an oister pass under his hind-paws; then, without looking at it, he searches with his hands for the weakest part; there he sinks his claws, separates the shells, and leaves not a vestige of the fish.  In all this operation, neither his eyes nor his nose, which he keeps at a distance, are of the least use to him.

            “This raccoon is not very grateful for the caresses he receives; but he is extremely sensible of bad treatment.  A servant one day gave him several lashes with a whip.  But this man has ever since endeavoured in vain to accomplish a reconciliation.  Neither eggs nor fishes, or which the animal is exceedingly fond, can appease his resentment.  At the approach of the servant, the raccoon flies into a rage; his eyes kindle; he [50] springs at the man, utters most dolorous cries, and rejects every thing presented to him, till the disagreeable object disappears.  The accents of his rage are very singular, sometimes resembling the whistling noise of the curlew, and sometimes the hoarse barking of an old dog.

            “If any one strikes him, it he is attacked by an animal that he thinks stronger than himself, he makes no resistance; but, like the hedge-hog, conceals his head and feet by rolling up his body in the form of a ball; no complaint escapes him; and, in this position, he calmly submits to be killed.

           “I remarked, that he never allowed hay or straw to remain in his nest; but chose rather to lie upon wood.  When litter is put in, he instantly throws it out.  I never perceived that cold made him uneasy.  Of three winters, he has passed two exposed to all the rigours of the air.  I have seen him covered with snow, having no shelter, and yet in good health.  I imagine that he is not solicitous about heat.  During the last frosts, I presented to him warm water, and water almost frozen, for diluting his food; but he uniformly preferred the latter.  He had liberty of sleeping in the stable; but often preferred a corner of the court.

            “The defect of saliva, or having but a small quantity of it, is, I imagine, the reason why this animal dilutes his food with water.  He never wets fresh or bloody meat, nor a peach, nor a [51] raisin.  But he plunges every thing that is dry into his bason [sic].

            “He abhors children; their crying irritates him; and he makes every effort to spring upon them.  A small bitch of which he is fond, he chastises severely when she barks too loud.  I know not why several animals equally detest sharp cries.  In the year 1770, I had five white mice.  I happened to make one of them cry; the others attacked it:  I continued to make it cry; and they killed it.

            “This raccoon is a female; she comes in season in the beginning of summer, and her ardour for the male continues for six weeks. During this period, nothing can quiet her; every object is disgusting; and she hardly takes nourishment.  A hundred times each day she passes, between her thighs and between her fore-feet, her bushy tail, which she seizes by the end with her teeth, and agitates perpetually, to give friction to the parts.

            “This animal acquires not its full growth till it be two years and a half old.”  [52]

 

Notes

 

*  This animal has a black sharp pointed nose; upper jaw longer; ears short, and rounded; eyes surrounded with two broad patches of black; from the forehead to the nose, a dusky line; face, cheeks, and chin, white; upper part of the body covered with hair, ash-coloured at the root, whitish in the middle, and tipt [sic] with black; tail very bushy, annulated with black; toes black, and quite divided; Pennant’s Synops. of quad. p. 199.

Vulpi assinis Americana, Rattoon seu Raccoon; Ray, quad, p. 179.

Vulpes Americana, Mapach dicta, Anglice Rattoon; Charlet. p. 15. 

 Ursus lotor, cauda annulata, fascia per oculos transversali nigra; Linn. Syst. p. 70.

 Coati Brasiliensium; Klein. quad. p. 72.

 Ursus cauda annulatim variegate; Brisson. Regn. animal. p. 261 [back to page 46].

 

* Sloane’s Nat. hist of Jamaica, tom. 2. p. 329 [back to page 47].

+ Klein, quad p. 62 [the printer departed from normal practice here.  The plus sign was usually used to denote the second note on a page; but this is the first and only note on the page.  Back to page 48].