DID YOU KNOW? THIS IS NOT A RACCOON
The tanuki, or Raccoon Dog, is a wild species related to canines and is easily mistaken for a raccoon by those unfamiliar with them. These animals are native to forests in Vietnam, Korea, China, Siberia, and most famously, Japan.
These animals are outrageously popular in Asian folklore and have been spotted in various movies, video games, and children’s books throughout the years.
Here are some interesting facts about the tanuki:
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The tanuki shares a trait with only one other canine species in the world, the gray fox. And that trait is the ability to climb trees. They tend to scurry up the bark of trees to forage for berries, fruit, rodents, amphibians, birds, fish, mollusks, and more. They tend to live in woodlands and marshes. They’ve even been known to dive.
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The tanuki is largely barred throughout countries in Europe due to the fact that they are considered an invasive species. The tanooki has very few natural predators and is known for scavenging near human places of living. In fact, many European nations have started to hunt and trap these animals and have banned trade as exotic pets due to the fact that their populations explode in proximity to human-inhabited areas.
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Despite their popularity, and how admittedly cute they are, civilians are strongly discouraged to keep from trying to obtain a tanuki as a pet. Should one acquire a tanuki, they may find that they are quite difficult to handle as they need a lot of space, are extremely smelly because they use scent to communicate with each other, and their dietary needs may be unable to be met in a household environment.
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The tanuki is the only canine in the world that hibernates. They will gain weight in the winter, decrease their metabolism by as much as 50% in some cases, and settle down inside burrows until spring. They are also monogamous and prefer to spend this hibernation period near their mating partner.
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They are one of the oldest canine species on the planet, with fossil records showing them dating back to over 2,588,000 years, all the way to the Pleistocene era.
