My first raccoon

As most people know, the raccoon (Procyon lotor) is a very common animal all over North America; in the days before leaving the UK, I had even read an article (In BBC Wildlife magazine) explaining that not only were they very common, but the ones in the Toronto area were, on average, larger than the regular ones and had an extra offspring each season.

Essentially, I was half expecting Canada to be knee-deep in raccoons.

I was a trifle surprised then, after arriving, not to see hair nor hide of the things; not a hint of a masked face, nor tip of a stripy tail!

It took almost a year in country before I caught sight of my first raccoon; this image was taken at Crawford Lake conservation area and has been framed and cropped to try and exclude as much of the wreckage from the rubbish bag the raccoon had purloined as possible! on more recent visits, I’ve noticed that the rubbish bins at this location are now somewhat more securely closed…