Page 27 - ODO 2024 JanFeb online version
P. 27
Conservation COOL FACTS About the Raccoon:
• Some raccoons live up to six years in the wild, but most live about two years.
• Adults weigh from 8 to 35 pounds and are usually about 2.5 feet long.
• They are highly adaptable to many habitats and can be seen in urban areas.
• Raccoons are nocturnal and solitary for most of the year.
• They have dense fur with a characteristic dark “mask” running across their eyes.
• They will eat hundreds of species of plants and animals, including fruits, crayfish and insects.
• Females give birth to an average of four blind and nearly hairless cubs in spring.
• The coonskin cap, as worn by Daniel Boone, was all the rage for American kids in the 1950s and ’60s.
• Because populations have grown dramatically in the past decade, the Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation
Commission created a year-round raccoon hunting season with no daily, season, or possession limits.
SAM RIDENHOUR GREENFIELD/READERS' PHOTO SHOWCASE 2021
USFWS
Color a Critter: Raccoon
FRED SHELTON/READERS' PHOTO SHOWCASE 2018
January/February 2024 25