writes:

I don't get it. How can they navigate? I've been lost
more than once in the woods and had to laboriously
figure things out with topo maps and a compass,
and I consider myself a hell of a lot smarter than
a racoon, and with an education. The coon never even
made it to kindergarten.

Every study done comes up with multiple answers. Smell, magnetic fields,
wind direction, "road marks," etc. are some of them. Unlike us, they
don't bother with "thinking it through" with maps, etc., they just "follow
their nose" and get there.

We've all heard stories of dogs going hundreds of miles to find their way
home. My husband found a dog in the median on the freeway when he worked
for the highway department. He brought it home where it spent most of the
day in the northwest corner of our yard looking westward. Our ad in the
paper was answered . . . he belonged to a couple who lived at the coast
(west!) and had lost him at the rest area north of town (several miles
from where he was found). There is no doubt in my mind that the little
dog would have eventually somehow made it home; he was definitely headed
in the right direction but would have encountered many hazards in the
100-mile trek.

We humans often under estimate the power of smell in animals because our
own senses have long gone "civilized" and no longer (if they ever did)
have the ability of most wild critters.

We also tend to forget, or overlook, that a dog smelling at the car window
on a drive isn't after the fresh air but is actually keeping track of
where it is and can easily re-trace short distance trips if allowed to do
so. It seems logical that other critters do the same thing.

Maybe others have more specific answers.

Glenna

"Charles P" writes:

I don't get it. How can they navigate? I've been lost
more than once in the woods and had to laboriously
figure things out with topo maps and a compass,
and I consider myself a hell of a lot smarter than
a racoon, and with an education. The coon never even
made it to kindergarten.

It's instinctive. Ducks don't have to be taught to swim, either.
They just do it.

Beats me how they can do that, but I'm releasing my coons 15
miles away and across the river.

If you've got good coon habitat, neighboring ones will move in and
take over his territory soon. Hope you like giving them rides.


--
Aaron

"Aaron Baugher" wrote
"Charles P" writes:

Beats me how they can do that, but I'm releasing my coons 15
miles away and across the river.

If you've got good coon habitat, neighboring ones will move in and
take over his territory soon.

If true, this also means that shooting will not be any more effective
than trapping.

Well, so far I've enjoyed a decline in garden depredation. I've
got a new crop of beans coming up, and we'll see how they
do. And it's not just coons, I've got an excess of woodchucks.
Unlike the coons, the chucks are bold and come out during the
day, sometimes I can look out my window in the mornings and
see them out prowling around.

Hope you like giving them rides.

Actually, that's not a problem. There's a great place to release them
not far from where I work. The animals just go with me to work
in the morning, have to roll the windows down though.

Interestingly enough, the area where my garden is was recently
visited by a stray bear from the Smoky Mtns National Park.
Animal control was all over the place looking, and they
were getting lots of calls from excited residents. That's
all I need now is a bear in my garden!

Yeah, I suppose transporting one of those bad boys in your car to work isn't a
good idea!

I didn't tell my wife on a recent camping trip up there (i'm here in AL) that
it was wicked serious bear country. we saw a couple of cubs on the way to the
campsite and she said "how cute!" (and they really were), but she said "why
are you blowing on that whistle?" and I made up some bs( but where there's
babies, there's also mama--and that should concern you!). and that evening, I
was throwing a rope over a limb to tie up the food, and threw the cooking pots
in a sack in the river, and she didn't know about that either.

The next morning, there were like claw marks on the tree that I tied the food
sack over, and BIG foot prints underneath where she tried to jump up there and
get it. I don't think I'll get her out there again!

My girl was ****ED OFF that I sort of , and on complete accident of course,
neglected to say anything prior to the trip.

I'm glad those bad boys aren't in my garden, but the local feral cats seem to
really like to do a little buissness in there.

later
john