THE RACCOON. 



PLATE XLV. THE RACCOON. 



THE raccoon is a native of most parts of North America ; 

 but it has never yet been found in tne Old Continent. Buf- 

 fon asserts that it is common in South America, but we be- 

 lieve it has never been found farther south than Mexico. 



It is an animal of about the same size as a small badger ; 

 its body is short and bulky ; its fur is fine, long, thick, 

 blackish at the surface, and gray towards the bottom ; its 

 head is like that of the fox, but its ears are round and 

 shorter ; its eyes are large, of a yellowish green, arid over 

 them there is a black and transverse stripe ; its snout is 

 sharp ; its tail is thick but tapering towards a point, and 

 marked alternately from one end to the other with black 

 and white, and brownish rings, and is at least as long as 

 the body : its fore legs are much shorter than the hind 

 ones, and both are armed with five strong, sharp claws. 



It inhabits the southern parts of the fur districts, being 

 found as far north as Red river, in latitude fifty degrees, 

 from which quarter, about one hundred skins are procured 

 annually, by the Hudson's Bay Company. If there is no 

 mistake as to the identity of the species, the raccoon ex- 

 tends farther north on the shores of the Pacific than it does 

 on the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains. Dixon and 

 Portlock obtained cloaks of raccoon skins from the natives 

 of Cook's river, in latitude sixty degrees ; and skins sup- 

 posed to be of the raccoon, were also seen at Nootka 

 Sound, by Captain Cook. Lewis and Clarke expressly 

 state that the raccoon, at the mouth of the Columbia, is the 

 same with the animal so common in the United States. 

 Desmarest says that the raccoon extends as far south as 

 Paraguay. It is an animal with a fox-like countenance, 

 but with much of the gait of a bear, and being partially 

 VOL. L 23 



