Creature Feature – Motherly Devotion
Posted by Dustin Horton // May 14, 2024 // Articles, Creature Feature
It’s spring, and that means there are lots of wildlife babies being born into the world!
Known for their intelligence and curious, mischievous ways, raccoons are also wonderful, nurturing mothers. A female raccoon faces childrearing challenges as a single mom. After giving birth to a litter of 2 – 5 kits, she devotes much of her time to caring for her totally helpless babies. She nurses them every few hours and, when necessary, carries them around in her mouth or on her back. If she feels threatened, a mother raccoon will move her kits to a different den. She is also fiercely protective and will attack predators that threaten her vulnerable family. (You may observe mother raccoons foraging in the daytime; this is normal behavior and no cause for alarm.)
Over time, Mama Ringtail begins to introduce her little ones to solid food. After around 8 weeks, when the babies are ready to leave the den, she leads them to a new location. Throughout summer, as they trundle and tumble behind her, she teaches her youngsters important life lessons like how to forage on their own, how to climb and defend themselves, and how to find places of refuge for shelter and protection from predators. Such skills are crucial to the kits’ survival. Although the young raccoons are weaned after a few months and usually disperse by early winter for an independent life, they may hang around with Mom until the following spring – kind of like some human kids that seem resistant to cutting the apron strings!
Article by Margie Manthey
Photo by Liz West
