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The female appeared in sight first

 

 

The mating period of raccoons passes quite quietly. Most pairs move around together from late autumn onwards; they pass the winter sleep together as well. As the weather becomes more springlike the raccoons start walking around their home territory. If a carcass is found in the forest there may be some arguments with other raccoon pairs, or with other food and habitat competitors such as foxes but also badgers.  For food they also search for last year’s berries or hunt for small rodents. Raccoon dogs are not strictly predators, rather scavengers, although they carry out considerable plundering in the nests of spring-time ground breeding birds. They move around by short steps and a somewhat waddling gait. A forepaw print fits in a 5x5 centimetres square, the hind paw track is a little narrower; four claw marks are clearly to be seen. The home territory that the patrollers mark can be up to 10 square kilometres, smaller in summer with plenty of food,  but always close to a water body.

 

In their winter coat, with a dense undercoat and long top hairs, in places like needles and more than 10 centimetres long, the movements of raccoons look slightly comical – a rather long body and legs just 20 centimetres high ...

 

In  early May there are 5-6 pups in the raccoon family den.