JOURNAL OF ANIMAL BEHAVIOR 



Vol. 2 SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER, 1912. No 5. 



OBSERVATIONS OF THE SENSES AND INSTINCTS 

 OF THE RACCOON 



LAWRENCE W. COLE 



The University of Colorado 



When an animal is free, observations of its behavior cannot 

 usually be repeated in order to verify the observer's explana- 

 tion of it. For example, Erasmus Darwin saw evidence of 

 reason in the wasp when, as he averred, he saw a Sphex, with 

 a prey too large for it to drag, cut off the wings, legs, and head 

 of the prey, whereupon it easily transported the trunk and 

 stored it. Fabre replied that Darwin had not seen a Sphex in 

 this case but an insect which instinctively dismembers its prey 

 and stores only the body. Recently one of my students re- 

 ported that he had seen a hornet do this. 



With observations so rare and isolated as these it will surely 

 be long before different observers will agree in their interpre- 

 tation of the behavior. Consequently, I report in what follows 

 only observations of the raccoon which were made repeatedly. 

 It may still be objected that the conditions were artificial. Yet 

 when several raccoons are set free from captivity for an hour 

 or two each day and their behavior noted the conditions appear 

 so nearly natural that behavior observed in all the individuals 

 would seem to be typical for this animal. 



THE SENSES 



Touch: The most conspicuous behavior of the raccoon seems 

 to be associated with the sense of touch, which is highly developed 

 in the palm of the forepaw and the tip of the nose. During 

 their hours of activity the animals were most often busy in ex- 

 ploring with their paws the floor and objects on the floor of the 

 room in which they were kept. The cage was an object of sim- 

 ilar exploration. When the cage was moved the uncovered 

 floor space excited this reaction with renewed activity. Dark 

 places, as your pocket or a knothole, are explored by touch 

 hundreds of times. Observers agree that the motive for this 

 exploration is instinctive curiosity and I shall discuss this be- 



