Evening star., 1933-06-04
RACCOON IS HELD
ORDINARY BUNKER
Once Given Credit for Clean
illness Because He Washed
His Food.
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.

The raccoon, long given credit fol
extraordinary cleanliness because he ap
peared to wash his food, has been re.
vealed as just an ordinary bunker"
Alone among animals, he has devel.
oped the characteristically human habit
of dipping his food in water before eat
ing 1t. as a man "dunks" doughnu
In coffee.
This is among the findings of a study
of the mental attributes of the raccoor
Just reported to the American Society
OF Mammalogists here by Leon F. Whit
ney. well known investigator of the
habits of mammals Since it is a
night proving animal seldom observed
in daylight, folklore has arisen around
this curious animal which Mr.. Whitney
sought to check by objective observa-
ton.
Name Means Washer.
The scientific name Of the coon Is
'procyon lotor," meaning "the washer -
It arose from the belief that the animal
washes all its food before eating. But
says Whitney. long hours of observation
do not indicate that the coon has any
special penchant for cleanliness He
does dip his food IN water and then NAV
appear to be rubbing a paw over it, as
if scrubbing 1t. but this is due to the
fact that he lives essentially by the
sense of touch. The apparent washing
is merely his way of finding out what
the good is. Given food in a dry in
closure with no water present, he will
feel it all over, but he likes the feeling
of water.
His sense of touch" says Whitney
in his report, is developed to a very
extraordinary degree The stimulus re-
ceived through his hands and fingers
Is very great as compared with that
Of most other animals. He is not nearly
as sensitive to noise as to vibration.
Possibly this has come about through
his tree climbing propensities. Living
high up in a tree where the wind roars
and the thunder is louder, raccoon
would not need to be so sensitive to
noise and wary for sound warnings.
But he would need to be, extremely
sensitive to warning through the sense
OF touch, and he is. If an enemy at
tempted to climb his tree the fact
must need, be transmitted to him;
hence his development of this extra
ordinary power
This animal has extraordinary power
of mitnicry, Whitney found He re-
counts this incident:
Hides From Hunters.
'The dog treed raccoon in the early
dawn, over a mile away from the hunt
ers, and it took some time to reach
the tree The animal could not be
seen. The dogs we're frantic. Every
spot in the tree seemed visible and it
would have been difficult for the small
est Of animals to have escaped the
eyes Of the four hunters. 1t required
Is minutes to find him. He was on the
tree trunk not more than Is feet from
the ground and had stretched his body
out so that he appeared to be not more
than 2 inches thick. He looked like
part Of the tree.
Probably the raccoon learns with
great ease. Once one has taken certain
route to escape the pursuits of dogs, he
generally will use the same avenue
thereafter. although not as a habit.
Some will learn that to Jump from
tree Is the best means of escape, and
they will often climb hemlocks where
they will hide until man gets well
up in the tree, then jump and get away
If they can escape the dogs"
The opossum, long associated with the
Southern States, is slowly migrating