Raccoons breed between January and March, the peak is around Feburary. The male raccoon pairy only to mate, and they don't form long term pair bonds with the female. The females pregnancy only lasts nine weeks, and the young begin to follow their mothers on excursions by early June.
             Younger female raccoon's breed at a lower rate and have smaller litters than do older adult females.Less than 70% of younger females are bred, with an average litter size of 3.3 young. 95% of adult females are bred, and have an average of 4 young per litter. Breeding by adult females is normally constant from year to year, while breeding by the younger ones can be different. The youngers ones' breeding rates are suppose to reflect the severity of the previous winter and the overall health of the population.
             The major causes of mortality for raccoons in the Midwest are fur harvest, getting run over by a vehical, and diseases. Starvation is pretty rare. As fur harvest decreases, mortality from other causes will
             likely increase. The most common disease in raccoons is canine distemper. Although the symptoms for distemper are similar to those of rabies, raccoons are hardly ever diagnosed as having rabies.
             In the wild, raccoons are found along streams and lakes near wooded areas. You may also find them on inhabit urban, residential, and recreational areas. Raccoons are not particular about den sites and some of them use tree hollows, hollow logs, caves,rock crevices, holes in the ground, and sometimes storm sewers. They don'ot dig their own burrows. Raccoons use rock dens most often during winter, probably because rock dens offer warm, stable temperatures, are secure, and are large enough for communal denning.
             Believe it or not, I absolutely loved this article. When I was a younger I had a raccoon as a pet. To learn all of this new information is relatively interresting and allows me to understand why Sassy, my raccoon, was the way she was. ...