Raccoons

A community portal about Raccoons with blogs, videos, and photos. According to Wikipedia.org: Raccoons are nocturnal mammals in the genus Procyon of the Procyonidae family. Raccoons are unusual for their thumbs, which enable them to open many closed containers and doors. They are intelligent omnivores with a reputation for being clever and mischievous. Raccoons range from 50 to 100 cm in length and weigh between 4.5 and 16 kg. The raccoon's tail ranges from 20 to 40 cm in length. Male raccoons are generally larger than females.

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Island goes to the polls to decide how to deal with pesky raccoon dogs

Written by Okinawa on

From: www.hdrjapan.com

CHIBU, Shimane -- A local government here will conduct a poll among residents on whether or not to expel raccoon dogs from the island as their population is nearly triple that of the humans.

The Chibu Municipal Government will survey about 590 adult residents on Chiburi Island in Shimane Prefecture on whether they are for or against getting rid of the raccoon dogs, or tanuki in Japanese.

Based on the results of the poll, which will be compiled by the end of March, the village will decide on a plan to deal with the raccoon dogs from next fiscal year.

The village's move came after an animal rights group pointed out that some residents are against getting rid of the raccoon dogs.

As of December last year, there were about 2,000 raccoon dogs on Chiburi Island, one of the Oki Islands in Shimane Prefecture, while the human population stood at 709.

Copyright 2005-2006 THE MAINICHI NEWSPAPERS. All rights reserved. Mainichi features the best news in Japan, current news in Japan, Japan news in English, Japan business news, Tokyo Japan news, and Japan entertainment news. Mainichi News is syndicated in accordance with editorial regulations: personal and noncommercial purposes.

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