Raccoon Animal Study and Lapbook
Research by Christy Hubbard
Templates by Kelly Cooper
 

Suggested Books
Animals After Dark:  Raccoons:  Scavengers of the Night by Elaine Landau

Nature's Children:  Raccoons by Laima Dingwall
Rascal by Sterling North

Raccoon Lapbook Templates

Note: If you don't want to use the wheel on pages 14-15 for raccoon diet, you can use the trifold on page 5 instead.

Vocabulary

adapt--to survive in a new place

Algonquin--a group of Native Americans native to the eastern seaboard

den--the home of an animal

hibernate--to sleep deeply through the winter

nocturnal--active at night

predator--an animal that hunts other animals for food.

rabid--having been infected with rabies

rabies--a diease that attacks the brain and spinal cord.

Classification 

Class--Mammalia

Order--Carnivora

Family--Procyonidae (raccoon family)

Genus--Procyon

Species--Procyon Lotor

Physical Characteristics
Face--Short oval ears, pointed snout ending in a sweet black nose and whiskers.  They have a "bandit's mask" in black around their eyes. 

Tail--10 inch long tail that has brown rings around it.

Hands--five fingered paw,

Name Origin

Raccoon is an Algonquin word-- aroughcoune meaning "he scratches with his hand."

Fun Facts

Raccoons can turn a doorhandle.

Raccoons have been known to turn on a water faucet.

Christopher Columbus called them "clown-like dogs."

Raccoons can swim.

Raccoons can run 15 mph.

Find more fun facts in your books about Raccoons.

Where in the World?

Where do Raccoons live?  They live in North America except in northern Canada and the Western Mountain ranges.  They are also in central and the northern part of South America.

Diet

Raccoons are omnivorous eating plants and animals including fish, eggs, garbage, nuts, berries, seeds, crayfish, clams, frogs, mussels, corn, etc.

Homes 

City homes:   chimneys, sewers, decks, empty buildings and attics

Country homes:  burrows, holes in the ground, brush piles, haystacks, hollow trees, caves, mines.

Predators

Who preys on adult raccoons? coyotes, bobcats and wolves

Who preys on baby raccoons? owls, foxes and badgers

What are other dangers that raccoons face? humans, cars and disease

Babies

Newborn--litters are 4-6 babies, no teeth, eyes closed, and little fur at birth.

1 month old--can stand

3-4 months old--field trips to learn how to hunt and climb.

1 year old--on their own

Rabies

Look the word up in a dictionary and practice dictionary skills.  Talk about treatment for rabies and why it is unsafe to approach animals (including dogs and cats) without talking to a grown-up first.

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