Greenest state in the land of the free.
Raised in the woods so’s he knew every tree,
Killed him a bear when he was only three.
Davy, Davy Crocket King of the Wild Frontier."
Do you remember watching the television show Davy Crockett played by Fess Parker? Back in 1955 the show and song created a demand for raccoon skins because most kids wanted to wear the coonskin hat made popular by Davy Crocket. The coonskin hat became the symbol of the frontier. Davy’s reliable old rifle, which he called Betsy, caused an increase in the sale of wooden guns and air rifles.
"Fought single handed through the Injun war,
Till the creeks was whipped and peace was restored.
And while he was handling this risky shore,
Made himself a legend, forevermore.
Davy, Davy Crockett the man who don’t know fear."
The Native Americans of the Algonquian Tribe called the raccoon Ar-ra-koon-em, which translated to “he who scratches with his hand”. The early colonists having no previous knowledge of the raccoon, which had no old world counterpart, called it by the Algonquian name, that later became raccoon. The German people call the raccoon waschbar, meaning wash bear, and in Mexico, the raccoon is known as osito lavador, meaning little bear washer.
"When he went off to Congress and served a spell
Fixin’ up the government and laws as well.
Took over Washington, I hear tell,
And patched up the crack in the Liberty Bell."
Raccoons den up for the winter; however, during a warm spell, which usually occurs towards the end of January, the stillness of the winter woods will be broken by high pitched squeals and growls as two male raccoons meet up with each other, and a fight occurs. The males have left their dens and are in search of a female. Although these fights are seldom fatal, injuries do occur. The winner stands his ground, while the loser runs away. This occurrence announces that the raccoon breeding season has begun.
When a male finds a female in estrus, she might not be receptive at first; however, he is persistent. Their courtship is brief. Once a female is mated, she usually returns to the den to continue her winter’s nap. On occasion, the male will move in with the female until the young are born; however, he will most likely move on to find another female.
If a female comes in estrus and is not mated because of a prolonged cold snap or deep snow, she will breed later in the spring and produce what is referred to as a summer litter. Although young females breed in their first year, young males do not become sexually active until their second year. It is believed that this is nature’s way of making sure the fittest reproduce first.
Young raccoons (cubs) are usually born after a 63 day gestation period in either late March or early April. A litter size is three to six, with four being an average. A young raccoon will weigh approximately three ounces at birth.
For the first twenty-four hours after giving birth, the female does not leave her cubs. During the next several nights, she will leave the den for an hour or two in search of food. On these nights, the female will travel only short distances from the den, and then during the next month, she will stay away longer and travel several miles in search of food.
It wont be long before the den becomes too small to hold the growing cubs. At this time, usually when the cubs are between six to nine weeks old, the female moves the cubs to a ground nest. By the twelfth week, the young are fully weaned and ready to start accompanying mom on her nightly searches for food. Lessons in survival will now begin, with mom teaching the cubs through coaxing, persuasion and reprimands.
As long as mom is nearby the cubs are generally safe from natural enemies. A cub’s squeal brings mom on the run. The cubs run up a tree, and mom either faces the danger or leads the intruder on a merry chase away from the cubs.
At approximately four months, the cubs will begin wandering away from mom for several hours or even days; however, during these trips, the cubs stay within the family’s home range. While some of the young stay with the mother, others find their own den for the winter. In the spring, the juveniles disperse from the area, in which they were born. Females could go only a few miles from their mother’s home range, while the males could travel up to ten miles. The young males must find a place where there are no other adult males. Records exist of young males going as far as 150 miles away; however, this kind of movement is unusual.
"When he come home, his politickin’ was done,
While the western march had just begun.
So he packed his gear, and his trusty gun
And let out a grinnin' to follow the sun."
The Ballad of Davy Crockett
Music by George Bruns, Lyrics by Thomas Blackburn