MAMMALS OF MARYLANID 



145 



water marshes of the Atlantic barrier beaches. Uhler and Llewellyn 

 (1952, p. 83) report that at the Patuxent Research Center, near Laurel, 

 Prince Georges County, the outstanding habitat type was bottomland 

 forest, followed by cultivated fields (mainly those with corn) , hedge 

 rows and wood margins, particularly if leading to cornfields. Rac- 

 coons were also abundant around marshy lake borders and in swamps. 



The raccoon is a very adept climber. Although it usually makes 

 its home in a hollow tree, it sometimes will utilize a fissure in a cliff, 

 or a hole among rocks. Raccoons rapidly diminish in numbers when 

 trees are cut over, and will either die off or leave the area after all 

 the trees are gone. 



The raccoon is nocturnal, and forages for its food after sunset. Its 

 diet consists of fish, crayfish, frogs, and mussels, as well as poultry, 

 mice, birds, eggs, reptiles, and insects. In season, it eats considerable 

 amounts of vegetable matter such as nuts, fruits, berries, and corn. 



In more northern climates the raccoon hibernates, but in Maryland 

 it remains active the year round except in the coldest portions of the 

 western part of the State. The species breeds in January and Febru- 

 ary, and some 63 days later females give birth to two to six young. 

 The cubs are born blind and remain so for about 19 days ; they suckle 

 for 2 months, and remain in the family circle through the winter. 



Remarks. — Maryland raccoons differ in no significant way from 

 Pennsylvania and New York specimens. Dozier (1948a, p. 286) sep- 

 arated the raccoons inhabiting the marshes of the Delmarva Peninsula 

 from those living in the surrounding woods as a distinct subspecies, 

 Procyon lotor maritimus. I have examined the type of this race, as 

 well as the series designated by Dozier as representing it, and am 

 unable to separate it from raccoons inhabiting other parts of Mary- 

 land. All the diagnostic characters mentioned by Dozier (paler colora- 

 tion ; longer but more sparse guard hairs ; much smaller size ; shorter, 

 more pointed and less prominently banded tail; relatively shorter 

 caudal vertebrae; smaller and more distinctly curved baculum; and 

 various cranial characters) are either within the limits of individual 

 variation of P. I. lotor ^ or are so slightly marked that I have been 

 unable to distinguish them. Consequently, I consider Procyon lotor 

 maritimus Dozier to be a synonym of Procyon lotor lotor (Linnaeus) . 



Specimens examined. — Anne Arundel County : Rutland, 1. Calvert 

 County: Prince Frederick, 1; St. Leonard (near), 1; Sollers, 9. 

 Charles County: Marshall Hall, 1; Newport, 1. Dorchester County: 

 Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, 69 ; Cambridge, 1 ; Castlehaven 

 Point, 3 ; Crapo, 1 ; Crocheron, 1 ; Golden Hill, 2 ; House Point, 11 ; 

 Kirwan's Neck, 2 ; Meekins Neck, 1 ; Punch Island, 6 ; Robbins (near) , 

 1; Shorters Wharf, 1; Vienna, 1; Worlds End Creek, 1. Frederick 



