It’s Procyon Lotor!

Time to check in on our ‘Critter Cams’! Well, one anyway! It’s been a weird season with few predators or even deer for that matter. What’s the message when over 4 years, your cameras have fewer and fewer coyotes, foxes and deer but more rabbits, raccoons, and mice? Something worth talking about as we get closer to master planning for the park.

Anyway, this time around as we were hiking out to this particular camera we came across some tracks in the snow. I said, “Well, I’ll bet I know what I’m going to find on this camera!” It’s Procyon Lotor! Trash Pandas! Raccoons! And Yup! (Well, there were 3 clips of a mouse and 2 of a squirrel as well!)

One Eye?

I’ve been watching this pair of raccoons come and go at the little rock shelter for a couple of years now. One of them, seems to only have one eye. As you’ll see when she walks into the shot, only one eye reflects the camera light. This is always the case with this raccoon. Well, I say, “she” but raccoons are very hard to sex. Males and females look pretty much the same. It’s is said that males are generally larger, but raccoons come in a huge range of sizes from 4 to 23 pounds. So, how can you tell if you’re looking at a big female with a smaller male? Yeah, you generally need an up-close-and-personal exam to know!

More Than One…

And by-the-way, did you know that there are actually 3 types of raccoon? There’s the common raccoon like ours, crab-eating raccoons and a Mexican relative called the Cozumel or Pygmy raccoon. They all look pretty much the same other than the Cozumel raccoon is smaller with a golden tail.

Well, that’s it for this critter cam check. Remember hunting at Devil’s Lake State Park continues through December 14th. Then we can all get back out there, enjoy our trails (and check the rest of our cameras!)

Derrick Mayoleth

For nearly 2 decades the Skillet Creek blog has focused on 3 main goals; To inspire you to visit and explore the Devil’s Lake region, to help you get the most your visit by sharing tips, events, and other helpful information. Lastly to advocate for our environment & wildlife and talk about how we can keep our natural areas amazing now and into the future! That last goal can sometimes cause controversy, but it’s the only way we can accomplish the first two. – Derrick Mayoleth, Owner.