looduskalender.ee

Good morning, and thank you for all the pictures! Seeing the raccoon dog again was fun!

Good morning, Peda.
Maybe those raccoon dogs only visit in darkness. That was when we saw them on the pig cam.

You know, I have never yet seen a racoon dog!

I found two pictures to you, Bairbre:

They look very much like the raccoons we get in the backyard every year!

How beautiful colors:

Lovely Evening light!!
16:41

Raccoon dog is again there but it is so dark...no pictures.

Thank you for the racoon dog pictures. I agree with Bairbre. They look very much like what we call racoons here. They like to get into our garbage at night!

What beautifyl evening pics - thanks Mutikluti and Patsycat.

I think we had some conversation about the differences between Estonian and American raccoons, last year, but, of course, I don't remember the details!

New article in LK, on Raccoon dogs, In Estonian, not English..
http://www.looduskalender.ee/node/1994

Thanks Renandeli. Maybe someone will do a translation soon.

if you don`t mind waiting some time, i`ll try to
translate it as good as i can.

Oh, yes please!!

Peda I leave food out for them, particularily when the young are first born and I find they leave our garbage alone!

The Raccoon Dog – Glory and Decay( from Looduskalender)

The Raccoon Dog is the only member of the canid family who hibernates in cold winters. It is named for its superficial resemblance to the non-canid raccoon .The Raccoon Dog is native to China, Korea ,Japan and southeastern Siberia. From East Asia in years 1929-1950 over 9000 raccoon dogs were brought to the European parts of Soviet Union, from where they easily spread to Western Europe. In 1938 was the first raccoon caught in Estonia.
86 raccoons were let loose in different parts of Estonia in 1950, to grow a valuable fur animals population. They were let loose even in the territory of Puhtu Ornithology Station, it was like letting the rat into granary, as the raccoons destroy bird nests.
Raccoon dogs were very adaptable, population increased rapidly and their number was kept in bourders by hunting them because of their fur. A hat from raccoon dog fur was a big hit then.At present their fur is not valued anymore and today raccoon dogs are not wanted species.
Natural enemies of the raccoon ( wolves,bears and lynx ) can`t keep the population in normal numbers, and hunters are not interested in them.
The sin register of raccoons : spreading diseases like rabies, the decrease of the population of the Galliformes ,who nest on the ground (by destroying their nests).
Nobody knows the exact number of raccoon dogs living in Estonian forests and coastland.We can only say that their population is bigger than ever before.

i did my best, sorry, some mistakes , but in big picture that`s that

Hello and good evening to you all, storkaholics of the world, here you are hiding!
It was funny to follow your conversation on the first sides of the thread: it was just what i was thinking about the millions of crows, ravens and magpies on the new cam site.

Racoon dogs have even spread through nearly whole Europe. As far as I know, they are found in Germany as well. Hope the few wolves and lynx in eastern Germany may find a good food in them.

Nice to meet you again, until next time
yours Leonia

Hi Leonia and welcome. Glad you found us here in our new home!

Thank you Kuremri. It is interesting to read the history of the raccoon dogs in Estonia, and the similarities and differences between them and our North American raccoon. Great translation.

Thanks Kuremari.
So these raccoon dogs have become a pest! How will Estonia deal with that, I wonder?