Nocturnal creatures in PA: Today, we continue taking a look at Pennsylvania wildlife. Raccoons, skunks and opossums (commonly called possums in the US) all prefer the cover of darkness for their food foraging activities.
Raccoons are the most adaptable species in North America. They are named for their dexterity with their small front paws, or hands; raccoon comes from aroughcun, which is Powhatan for “animal that scratches with its hands.” Meanwhile, the spanish word for raccoon is mapache, which comes from the Aztec word mapachitli, meaning “one who takes everything in its hands.”
There are actually six species of raccoon, which includes the common raccoon that people typically think of when the name comes up in the US.
The black mask of a raccoon is instrumental in improving the eyesight of the animal, as it absorbs light and reduces glare. At night, the raccoon sees better because it has less peripheral light interfering and therefore can see more contrast.
Raccoons were transported to Europe to raise on farms for their fur. The animals escaped (some helped by farmers who were bored and let them go) and are now considered an invasive species.
Raccoons eat birds, fruit, insects, nuts and seeds, but they also forage for food in garbage in a residential area. This adaptability, as well as their willingness to make a home both in the forest and within buildings, have allowed their population to grow even as their habitat has been destroyed by humans.
Raccoons in urban settings tend to be smarter than those that still have homes in the forest, as they are forced to continually face and overcome obstacles created by humans in order to survive.
Raccoons were originally considered the ideal species to use for lab experiments, but due to their ability to escape, steal items from researchers’ pockets and hide adeptly in the air vents, this idea was shelved and rats became the popular alternative.
Raccoons “see” with their front paws, a fact that won’t surprise most people. The raccoon’s front paws have four times the amount of sensory receptors as their back paws do.
