CHAPTER NINE 



OF all typical American mammals no animal, big or 

 little, is better known than the raccoon, or " 'coon," 

 as it is so frequently called. 

 A scientist would tell you probably that the raccoon is 

 a typical representative of a group of American arboreal 

 placental mammals belonging to the order Camivora, but 

 ask someone who really knows this animal in its native 

 habitat and he will, in all likelihood, say that it is a little 

 cousin to the bear, because in truth it is bear-like in form 

 and has the same characteristic habit of the ursine family 

 in that it shuffles about the ground in a lumbering manner, 

 has the same bear-like agility in climbing trees, eats any- 

 thing that comes its way — fruits, bugs, reptiles, shellfish, 

 bees, honey, nuts, berries, fish — in fact, it is just as partial 

 to an animal diet as it is to vegetable matter; being planti- 

 grade or flat-footed, the raccoon leaves a foot-print similar 

 to the track of a bear. It has the same build that makes 

 its hind quarters higher than its fore parts, but, when 

 walking, the entire sole of the foot is not applied to the 

 ground, as it is when the animal is standing at rest, while 

 the toes, especially those of the forefeet, can be spread out 

 very widely. 



