A raccoon dog is a small mammal native to East Asia. It combines the features of several animals at once, but in full measure its appearance and lifestyle do not coincide with any of them. Where does the raccoon dog live? How does she look? You will find all the details about this unique animal in our article.
Not to be confused with a raccoon
This animal got its unusual name from an amazing resemblance to a raccoon. Both have thick hair, a thin elongated nose and characteristic black specks on the face, by which they are usually recognized.
If you look closely, you can see that the appearance of the animals is different, and they belong to completely different families. For example, a raccoon is a representative of raccoons. Its ears are longer and larger. The paws of the animal are similar to the palm of a person, thanks to them he can climb trees. Due to the shorter and not so thick coat, his body looks more elegant.
The raccoon dog belongs to the canine family. She is also called the Ussuri fox, the Japanese call her tanuki, and the Evenki people call him mangut. Its coat is denser and thicker, its paws are similar to those of dogs and are adapted only for walking on the ground. The main difference between the species is the tail. In a raccoon, it is long with black transverse stripes. In the Ussuri fox, he repeats the color of the body.
Raccoon Dog: Description
The sizes of the Ussuri fox are average. It grows within 60-80 centimeters and weighs 5-10 kilograms. The body of the animals is long and stocky, and the legs are short. The tail usually reaches 15-30 centimeters in length.
The color of the raccoon dog is heterogeneous. As a rule, it is gray-white or brown with a splash of black hairs. Paws, tail and tummy are much darker than the upper body. The nose is always bright, and the eyes are surrounded by black spots. Sometimes among them there are individuals completely white with a reddish tint with a black tip of the nose and eyes.
Thick long fur of the dog is thin and fluffy with dense undercoat. In winter, he allows his mistress not to freeze at a temperature of even –25 degrees. In the cold season, the color becomes lighter, in the summer it acquires dark brown shades.
Area
The birthplace of this dog is East Asia. Initially, it lived in the forests of the Amur Region, the Japanese Islands, the Korean Peninsula, and northeast Indochina (indicated on the map in orange). In Russia, a raccoon dog was found only within the Amur Region and the Ussuri Territory, which is why its middle name occurs.
Now the range of the species has expanded significantly and covers most of Europe (green on the map). How did the dog end up on the other side of the mainland? In the 30s of the XX century it was brought to the countries of the Soviet Union as an animal for hunting. In the Asian part of Eurasia, the conditions for it turned out to be unsuitable, but the western territories came up perfectly.
Today, the Ussuri fox is found not only in the countries of the former USSR, but also in Romania, the Czech Republic, Poland, Finland, Sweden, France and Germany. Some countries consider its spread a real problem, as it carries many diseases that are dangerous to humans and other animals.
Behavior features
The raccoon dog's lifestyle is semi-nomadic, so for a long time it does not remain in one place. She goes out in search of food at dusk and continues her activity all night. In the afternoon, the animal sleeps, choosing some nook.
The Ussuri dog rarely runs and basically moves in steps. It is rather slow and in the open area becomes easy prey for its natural enemies. That is why it lives in forests with dense and high undergrowth, in thickets of swamps, floodplain meadows and shrubs. Drawing on the face helps her disguise.
The raccoon dog is hunted by foxes, wolves, lynxes, stray dogs, wolverines and even large birds of prey. Because of the skin and fur, they become frequent victims of man. She has few chances to run away, and she decides to confront the enemy only as a last resort. When the dog is driven into a corner, it can show its teeth and respond with all aggressiveness. Most often, she chooses a simpler and more efficient way, pretending to be dead and puzzling the attacking beast. She “revives” only when she feels that danger has passed.
Song dog
Raccoon dogs have an interesting set of sound signals. You cannot hear the barking from them. Being in a bad mood, for example, during danger or fighting for a female, they growl.
However, more often than not, melancholy whining sounds are heard from them, more like the singing of a bird than the voice of a canine representative. Such a signal, as a rule, is used for friendly purposes and is a common method of communication between them.
What does she eat?
Raccoon dog belongs to predatory mammals and prefers meat. But by the nature of the food, it is rather omnivorous, and the hunter from it is not important. The diet of the animal varies depending on the season. In autumn, the dog is more often engaged in gathering, in the summer it eats both vegetable and protein foods. In early spring and winter, it is absorbed by everything that is necessary, including garbage.
She enjoys eating berries, mushrooms, vegetables, cereals, acorns and plant roots, covering up to ten kilometers to find them. Among animals, frogs, small rodents, and bugs become its prey. Large and too fast prey is not available to her, but sometimes the dog manages to watch for a black grouse or pheasant, ruin a couple of other people's nests.
Winter sleep
Of all the representatives of the canine family, no one hibernates, except for the Ussuri fox. During periods of activity, she does not use permanent housing and certainly does not build it herself. But hibernation is a more serious matter, and the "house" must be reliable. For a long sleep, she chooses the abandoned burrows of badgers, foxes or other animals. As shelters, she uses crevices in the rocks, small ravines, haystacks, emptiness under a windbreak or firewood.
She is rarely involved in independent housing construction. The raccoon dog burrow is a tunnel from one to three meters long, at the end of which there is a camera. Often they dig out nests under large stones or a stone embankment, supplying them with several entrances. It is not difficult to find a residential hole: the land near it will certainly be trampled, and there will be scraps and excrement nearby.
Preparation for hibernation begins in autumn and early winter, and the dream itself lasts from December-January to February-March. By that time, the animal needs to increase the layer of subcutaneous fat by 20-25%. Without gaining the right amount, it risks not surviving the cold winter. During hibernation, its metabolism decreases by about 25% and gradually recovers with the onset of warming.
During warm winters, when there is no frost, a raccoon dog can wake up and go to the surface in search of food. In the Primorsky Territory and places with a similar climate, it hibernates only during the period of large frosts, snow storms and blizzards.
Social Behavior and Reproduction
In the early spring, immediately after the first warming, dogs begin to rush, but they form pairs in the fall. During the search for a partner, the males become very aggressive and come into clashes with each other more than once.
Pregnancy raccoon dogs lasts 60 days. At this time, they do not wander, but find permanent housing until the offspring grows up. On average, 5-6 puppies are born per female, but sometimes they are born up to 16. Cubs appear blind and helpless. They weigh only 100 grams.
The first few months, the mother spends all time in the hole with the children, and the care of her lies on the shoulders of the male. Later they go out in search of food in turn. Growing up, puppies learn from their parents all the important skills in order to start an independent life by the end of autumn. Raccoon dogs have been living in nature for about 5 years, in captivity this number is approximately doubled.