Etymology

The mask of a raccoon is often interrupted by a brown-black streak that extends from forehead to nose. The word "raccoon" was adopted into English from the native Powhatan term, as used in the Colony of Virginia. It was recorded on John Smith's list of Powhatan words as aroughcun, and on that of William Strachey as arathkone.[10] It has also been identified as a reflex of a Proto-Algonquian root *ahrah-koon-em, meaning "[the] one who rubs, scrubs and scratches with its hands". Similarly, Spanish colonists adopted the Spanish word mapache from the Nahuatl mapachtli of the Aztecs, meaning "[the] one who takes everything in its hands". In many languages, the raccoon is named for its characteristic dousing behavior in conjunction with that language's term for bear, for example Waschbär (‘wash-bear’) in German, Huan Xiong (浣熊 ‘wash-bear’) in Chinese, orsetto lavatore (‘little-bear washing’) in Italian, and araiguma (アライグマ ’washing-bear’) in Japanese. Alternatively, only the washing behavior might be referred to, as in Russian poloskun (полоскун, ‘rinser’). The colloquial abbreviation coon is used in words like coonskin for fur clothing and in phrases like old coon as a self-designation of trappers. In the 1830s, the United States Whig Party used the raccoon as an emblem, causing them to be pejoratively known as "coons" by their political opponents, who saw them as too sympathetic to African-Americans. Soon after that the term became an ethnic slur,[15] especially in use between 1880 and 1920 (see coon song), and the term is still considered offensive.[16]

Taxonomy

Description

Behavior

Range

Health

Raccoons and humans

See also

Cozumel raccoon, an endangered species in the Yucatán Peninsula

Crab-eating raccoon, of Central and South America, eats crustaceans amongst other things

Coati

Raccoon dog, native to East Asia

Notes