Keith Cole, age 8, of Riverside, Calif., for his question:
HOW LONG DOES A RACCOON LIVE?
A raccoon is a furry animal that has a bushy, ringed tail and a band of black hair around his eyes. The black hair on the face makes him look as if he is wearing a mask.
In captivity where there is a constant supply of food and the animal is not bothered by his enemies, a raccoon will live to be 10 to 12 years old. In the wilds and in their natural habitats, racoons probably live fewer than five years.
Raccoons live in both North America and South America. The northern raccoon measures from 30 to 38 inches long including his tail. He weighs from 12 to 25 pounds.
Most raccoon tails have from five to seven rings. The animals live on both the ground and in trees. They live alone or in small family groups.
Raccoons usually hunt for food at night and stay in their dens during the day. They walk like bears, with all four feet flat on the ground, and are good swimmers. Those that live in wooded areas make their dens in hollow logs, stumps or trees. Others make their homes in abandoned barns or farmhouses.
In marshy areas where there are no trees, raccoons make their nests in high grass or they may take over an abandoned muskrat house.
A raccoon will eat a variety of food including crayfish, crabs, frogs, fish and other fresh water animals. They also eat acorns, birds' eggs, corn, fruit, nuts, seeds and small animals such as grasshoppers and mice.
Raccoons seem to "wash" their food. Actually, they do not. They do like to dunk food in water before eating it, but experiments show that the animals dunk food that is already clean or wet as often as they dunk dirty or dry food.
The dunking habit seems much more common among raccoons in captivity than in their natural environment. Some scientists believe captive raccoons are simply imitating the way they would pull fish from rivers or streams. They do not actually wash their food.
Raccoons in the southern United States and South America remain active the year around. In colder parts of northern United States and Canada, raccoons sleep for long periods during the winter, but they do not actually hibernate.
During true hibernation, an animal's heart rate and temperature decrease greatly. On mild winter days, a raccoon may wake up and leave his den to search for food.
Raccoons in colder areas prepare for winter by eating extra food during the fall. They store up a layer of fat under their skin, and this fat keeps them alive during the long winter sleep.
Northern raccoons mate once a year, between January and June. About nine weeks after mating, the female has from one to seven babies. Most females have three or four young.
Newborn raccoons have no masks around their eyes or rings on their tails. They eyes do not open until about 20 days after birth. The babies stay in the den for about 10 weeks before they begin to follow their mother when she searches for food.