On 14 Apr 2004 07:25:52 GMT, Nick Maclaren wrote:

Are they widespread in the coastal strip stretching from Vancouver
to Anchorage, because that is the only patch that HAS anything like
long, dark, WET winters? The point is that many hibernation and
semi-hibernation techniques don't work in the UK, because of the
unreliable cold in the winter.

According to the distribution map in Roger Caras's "North
American Mammals", raccoons only get up the coast some ways north
of Vancouver, and then nada. Not in Alaska, evidently.

But here in Victoria, we have oodles, and our winters are long,
wet, dark, and definitely have unreliable cold -- as you so well
phrase it. Shall I ship you a container of raccoons?

They probably could naturalise here, but it isn't certain. Some
cold-winter animals have trouble.

If life in the countryside isn't congenial, they'll simply move
into the cities.

| Main disadvantages of raccoons: they can carry rabies; they will
| eat all the cherries off your tree; they will eat all your corn
| before it's quite ripe (not that corn is a common crop in the
| UK); they can destroy a cat with ease, and even dogs are at risk.

Not all that different from a fox, in most of those respects.

Raccoons present one additional problem: they look cute[1] with
their black masks. You can make a pet out of one if you start
when it's young, but when it grows, it's not entirely
trustworthy.

[1] "Cute" as in squealingly announced "O he's s-o-o-o-o
c-u-t-e!" by dim & clueless members of the female sex.
Fortunately, no female urgler falls into that category.

--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
[change "atlantic" to "pacific" and
"invalid" to "net" to reply by email]