306 LAWRENCE W. COLE 



clung to the first box with their hind paws and, with only a 

 sort of half leap, reached the second with their forefeet and 

 pulled themselves upon it. Their climbing up the trunk of a 

 tree is exactly like that of a bear. 



Play: The raccoon is everywhere described as very playful. 

 One would sit for a long time and play with his hind feet or 

 the tip of his tail. Three were observed to play in this fashion 

 for one and a quarter hours, with almost no pause. While my 

 animals had to work twice a day for their food I observed only 

 momentary play, or perhaps curiosity, as the tendency to pick 

 up a straw or bit of cornhusk and roll it for a moment between 

 their forepaws. In some degree, therefore, their play seems to 

 depend on the possession of surplus energy. When well rested 

 they played roughly with each other in mock fights, running and 

 seizing each other gently with the teeth, rolling over and over 

 in their tussles. In this play they would often climb to the 

 shoulder of the observer, whereby he may learn both the strength 

 of their grip and the sharpness of their claws. They also make 

 pretense of biting your hand in play, a characteristic reaction 

 of the pet raccoon. 



Beckmann says, " In the numberless leisure hours which every 

 captive raccoon has he does thousands of things in order to 

 dispel the tedium. Now, he sits upright in a secluded corner, 

 and with a most earnest expression he is busied in trying to 

 tie a straw around his nose. Now, he plays thoughtfully with 

 the toes of his hind 'foot, or snatches after the wagging end of 

 his long tail. At another time he lies on his back and has a 

 whole heap of hay or dry leaves hugged against his belly and 

 he tries to tie down this loose mass by drawing his tail tightly 

 over it with his forepaws." 



The Impulse to Follow: After learning to walk the raccoons 

 would all follow me, or anyone else, with the utmost eagerness. 

 If I ran they struggled through the grass at their best rate, 

 giving the instinctive cry more and more shrilly as I got further 

 away from them, and ceasing to give it when they overtook 

 me. In the middle of the seventh month this instinct to follow 

 began to wane. When released from their place of confinement 

 each one tended to go on an exploring tour of his own and to 

 make for a nearby tree. At this time they would still follow 



