Pedigree of a raccoon, behavior in the wild, reproduction, description of the appearance of a raccoon, tips on keeping, possible difficulties, price when buying a raccoon. Probably, there is no such person who would not know such a representative of the world fauna as the raccoon-raccoon. If you have never met him in books or on the Internet, then everyone knows by heart a cartoon about a baby raccoon and the song "From a Smile" from early childhood.
Today, keeping exotic animals in a house is no longer an amazing activity for anyone. But, probably, the most popular and demanded animal among exotic animals is the raccoon raccoon. Nowadays, if you ask people passing by about who they would like to have as a pet, then most of the respondents will answer with delight and dreaminess that it would be a raccoon.
On the Internet, there is an opportunity to look at a large number of photos and videos with this adventurer in the title role, having viewed at least a small part of these materials, we can say with confidence that you will be delighted with this animal.
Probably few people will be able to find a more intricate, fun and playful animal. A raccoon in a house is not just a pet, a loyal, reliable friend and companion - it is also every minute fun, a lot of positive emotions and a guarantee of a constant good mood.
But this playful animal is not so simple. Before you rush for such an original purchase, consult with the rest of your family, perhaps someone is not ready for such an overactive roommate. Indeed, among the entire large animal kingdom, it is very difficult to single out someone who would be more active, curious and restless, you need an eye and an eye for him.
In addition, this nimble little animal needs a lot of your love and attention, we can say that this is the basic rule for the correct maintenance of a gargle at home. By giving him quite a lot of your free time, as a result, you will get an animal that everyone who meets him will dream of. If this baby is well and correctly educated, then you can even achieve partial obedience on his part.
Homelands and pedigree of the striped raccoon
Despite all the cuteness of this animal, the raccoon-raccoon is a representative of the order of predatory animals. In addition, zoologists classify it as a mammal, the raccoon family and the raccoon genus.
Everyone is already accustomed to the fact that little raccoons are domestic inhabitants, but this is not at all the case, such adorable predators mainly come to us from North, Central and South America. According to some historical information, this representative of the fauna was brought to the territory of Europe only in the 30s of the twentieth century. Due to the unpretentiousness of this animal, it feels great in Germany, France and even in some regions of Russia.
Peculiarities of the behavior of the striped raccoon
Initially, it was believed that the raccoon is a representative of the Vivver family, a relative of the spotted geneta, and after studying this personality a little, scientists gave him his famous name. The raccoon acquired its so-called "surname" - gargle, in connection with its habit of rinsing food before use.
He walks on the ground, both on two and four legs, while stepping on the soles. They are also athletes! Despite the fact that they are very well-fed, they can climb trees with enviable dexterity, moreover, it is at the height that they spend most of their free time.
Gargle by nature, animals that do not eat much food, plant foods predominate in his diet, such as berries, corn, nuts, but if an insect, worm or snail catches his eye, they will also not bypass him. And when the cunning man finds an inhabited bird's nest, he will gladly steal a few eggs or even small chicks.
If a raccoon goes underwater hunting, then this is a very interesting process. The thing is that the raccoon does not dive in search of some yummy, but catches it with its paws. Under water, he does not have the opportunity to see or smell his prey, so he just carefully sorts out his "little hands", while exploring not only the water, but the entire underwater kingdom, including various stones and driftwood. As soon as he caught something, he briskly grabs his catch, rinses it and then starts his meal. Underwater, his fingers can easily determine the edibility or readiness of a product for consumption.
A prerequisite for a comfortable living of this mammal in the wild is not so much the presence of its own home as a toilet. As the latter, they often use small hollows or crevices of trees. Raccoons can live in more or less spacious hollows, crevices of old trees or stones. They can also settle in a hole that someone has already dug, since they do not know how to build their own. Often they choose an area near villages to live in, because the raccoon is not very shy and without much hesitation can climb into someone's garden or garden for various delicacies.
Their period of activity begins with the onset of dusk and lasts until early morning, in the daytime, they prefer to sleep in their house. Although, depending on the living conditions, these cunning ones can change their routine. For example, if a raccoon lives on some coast, then his sleep depends on the ebb and flow, because with the retreat of the water on the coast, there may be many goodies that he really loves. With the onset of winter, their activity decreases slightly, but the animals are not used to hibernation.
Continuation of the genus of raccoons
Males reach sexual maturity at about the second year of life, while females mature at the age of one. The mating season for these animals begins already in January and lasts until mid-March. Pregnancy lasts approximately 1, 5 months, after this period, 3-4 babies are born, who live in the parental nest for about six months. After that, they go into adult and independent life. Female raccoons become pregnant only once a year.
Characteristics of the external appearance of a pretty predator
The striped raccoon is a cute creature that in appearance resembles someone average between a dog and a chanterelle, of medium size, its body length is approximately 50-65 cm, while the tail grows to 23-28 cm. The maximum body weight is approximately 14 –16 kg, their average weight is about 6–9 kg. The male half of the raccoons are usually larger than the female. Nature has awarded this creation not only with a memorable appearance, but also with a slender, rather strong and stocky body.
- Head the striped fish is wide enough with a cute, slightly pointed muzzle. In the upper part of it, there are small upright ears, which have a light rounded shape.
- Muzzle raccoon, what is remarkable is that it is a bit like a so-called mask - a black nose, around it is a white area, and the area of the eye sockets and forehead is also painted black. Around his cute little eyes, there are wide lines of black color, which are located at an acute angle and continue to the neck, the marginal edges of these stripes are decorated with a narrow white edging.
- Limbs they are relatively short, well-developed fingers cannot be overlooked. Their paws are often compared to human ones, since there are no partitions between the toes, thanks to this feature, the fine motor skills of the paws are very well developed in striped raccoons, they are very good at manipulating small details. Each finger ends with a long sharp claw, it is they who help the animals to conquer the tops of the trees.
- Feet these furry predators also have some peculiarities - they are very mobile and are able to turn all 180 degrees, with the help of such uniqueness, animals can perform various tricks on trees, up to the fact that they can travel upside down.
- Wool cover for this lover of washing it is quite thick, but in different parts of the body it differs in length, on both sides of the head it is much longer than it forms "tanks". The color is usually presented in gray-brown tones.
- Tail fluffy, decorated with black or dark brown rings, of which there are from 6 to 10 pieces.
Keeping a striped raccoon at home
While watching a video on the Internet about how this resident with a striped tail is in charge of the apartment, do not rush to think that he lives there. For the safety of the animal itself and your apartment as a whole, for this pet it is necessary to equip its personal dwelling, which is perfect for a fairly spacious cage and it is desirable that it be high.
Keeping such a nimble and agile animal in cramped conditions is not only an irreparable mistake, but also simply a mockery of a pretty predator. Indeed, infringement of his personal space can lead not only to a bad mood of your pet, which can serve as an impetus for sudden outbursts of aggression towards you and the rest of your family, but also to a significant deterioration in the health of the animal.
It is good to make the animal's personal house in several floors, dividing them among themselves with various shelves. A variety of interesting things should be placed on each tier, such as toys, hammocks, swings or rings. It is also necessary to arrange a soft sleeping place for your friend.
It is best to place the cage in a bright, spacious room, in no case do not settle the raccoon on the balcony, in the summer the animal will simply die from the heat.
Very important attributes in the house of your original pupil are a container for food, a drinker and a basin filled with water of medium size. In it, he will wash his food, as well as rinse all the items at hand, it is good to present him with several rubber toys that will be thoroughly washed and washed every day.
The fact that your pet has his own personal living space does not mean that he will spend all his time there. He needs a house in order to live there at night and at a time when no one is at home. It is not advisable to leave this merry fellow alone in the apartment, because the striped animals are very smart and, moreover, very curious animals.
They can easily open a window or balcony and will certainly fall out, even if your friend does not get killed, he will certainly run away in search of new adventures. If you have all the windows and doors tightly closed so that no one can open them, the raccoon will find himself an exciting activity inside the apartment, which you are unlikely to enjoy. It will not be difficult for them to open the taps in the bathroom, and while your tenant is happy to splash in water and wash everything that comes to his hand, and this may all be equipment, books, and documents, your neighbors will already be planning a new one. repairs that you will pay for. It is probably not worth talking about the fact that he can ruin furniture, tear off the wallpaper, break dishes and other smaller pranks.
Since these animals are omnivores, they almost never have problems with nutrition. When composing a menu for a home raccoon-gargle, it is necessary to bring it as close as possible to its usual diet. The raccoon must consume both plant and animal foods.
Meat is the main source of protein and this comrade cannot do without it; preference should be given to lean varieties such as chicken, rabbit, turkey and lean veal. This lover of refreshment will not refuse either raw or boiled meat, but still it is better to feed him thermally processed foods. This will prevent the raccoon from becoming infected with helminths or intestinal infections.
Fruits should be an integral part of the daily diet - these can be bananas, grapes, peaches, pears, apples, kiwi, plums and many others, the only exceptions are citrus fruits, although these animals love them very much, they often cause allergic reactions. Your friend will not refuse vegetables, some of them should be present in his menu every day - these are carrots, peas, zucchini, asparagus. Sometimes it can be pampered with a slice of watermelon or melon, but often this is not necessary, because this cunning beast can start turning up its nose from not so sweet foods.
The presence of gargle and berries in the list of products is also encouraged - raspberries, currants, especially black, cherries and strawberries.
From time to time, feed this pet with seafood, you can also treat it to river fish, but it does not contain so many nutrients.
In the event that a cat or dog lives in your house, then be careful, this predator with a pretty face will often steal their food.
After some time living together with the striped raccoon under the same roof, you will notice that he loves the most, and which dish is completely not to his taste.
Potential difficulties in keeping a striped raccoon
By their nature, these animals are very cheerful, friendly and peaceful, it is not at all difficult to find a common language with them, but do not forget that, if you do not domesticate it, the raccoon is a predatory animal, originally from the wild. During fun and games, he can bite or scratch you. This can be done not because of the aggressiveness of the animal and without any evil intentions at all, simply by playing too much, he does not know how to calculate his strength, so you should be ready for this and excessive caution will not hurt.
These animals do not always get along with other pets. And if a cat or a dog lives in your house, then the raccoon can get used to them over time, and perhaps even make friends, but if we are talking about a hamster or a parrot, then your gargle considers this living creature, not as a neighbor, but rather as a delicacy … No matter how carefully you look after him, he will definitely find the time and opportunity to achieve the set task, so he must come to terms with this.
Usually this mammal relieves in the same place. But still, there are such specimens that do not get used to the tray in any way, in addition, during the mating season, the raccoon is inclined to mark its territory, therefore, at the beginning of spring, cleaning will have to be done very often so that unpleasant odors do not take root in your house.
Another not entirely pleasant moment is that the raccoon is a nocturnal inhabitant, and if your kitten can wake you up in the middle of the night when he wants to eat, then the raccoon will wake you up for any reason, especially if he has a lack of communication. If you have a sufficient amount of free time, then its mode can be changed, for this, for some time, the night animal needs to be exhausted in every possible way and fed only during the day, then, perhaps, you will achieve the desired result.
Raccoon purchase price
When buying such an exotic, you should be careful not to get an animal snatched from the wild by poachers, a sick or half-dead animal, or not a raccoon at all, but a raccoon dog puppy. Do not hesitate to require sellers to show all documents for your pet. The average price for one raccoon raccoon varies from 10,000 to 60,000 rubles.
More details about the contents of the raccoon striped in this video:
