The Back Yard Zoo

by Jim Dunlap

"Albino Raccoon"

He looks like huge wisp of cotton candy that has been soaked in the sun and wrapped in a sigh. He is the color of yellow snow like the kind my mother warned me about. He is an albino raccoon. A local professional trapper brought him and a sibling to us.

Albinism is a frequent occurrence in nature. The remarkable thing is that this one has survived to adulthood. The young rely on their protective coloring to help them hide. Being white leaves you open to nighttime predators such as owls, bobcats, foxes and coyotes. The raccoon is also a night hunter. It is omnivorous and will eat both plant and animal matter. His natural food consists of fruit, berries, frogs, fish, insects, arachnids and some other things. Our urban raccoons prefer to sneak up to the back porch and eat the dog and cat food. This calcimine clown does everything that is expected of a normal colored raccoon.

Raccoons are related to bears. If you watch one walk with its flatfooted amble and its rump sticking up in the air, you can see the similarity. They are very curious and their inquisitive nature can often get them into trouble. If they can’t get their noses into something, they will tear it apart. The story about raccoons washing their food before eating is not exactly true. In nature, much of the raccoon's food consists of water creatures. He finds his food by puddling around in the water with his forepaws to catch fish, crawfish and mussels. In captivity, the raccoon carries his food to his water dish and appears to wash it, but he's actually only satisfying his feeding instinct. Raccoons make their nests in hollow trees. In the city, they might make their nests in a storm sewer or in the attic of your house.

So, what will become of this pallid Purina-picking pilferer? Try saying that ten times quickly through a mouthful of crackers! He will soon be in the capable hands of our local, licensed animal rehabilitation specialist. She will keep him long enough to check on his health, administer useful vaccinations and feed him to the almost fat stage. He will then be transported and released as far into the wild as the wild will go.

Contact Jim Dunlap, director of the Holifield Science Learning Center of Plano Independent School District, 3100 Shiloh Road, at 469-752-1194 or jdunlap@pisd.edu.

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