Their thoughts are turning

Photo by Lincoln Karim

Remember "In the spring a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love"? Well, it's certainly winter now [finally!], but in Central Park a young [or not so young] raccoon's fancy is already turning [and not so lightly] to thoughts of love. In fact, as Rebekah Creshkoff's note [below] suggests in its final comment, January is usually the month raccoons start their families.

Rebekah, by the way, is a long-time member of the Central Park birding community. Among her many distinctions she is the Founder of NYC Audubon's valuable program Project Safe Flight. [You may remember her from Red-tails in Love.]


Tonight [1/22/07] as I was biking home through the park, I saw a couple of raccoons coupling. It was after dark, 7:00 p.m. or so. They were in a tree along the ramp between the zoo and the skating rink, where hiphop-type music was blaring. Tree is the first south of streetlight E6301, along the same "median strip."

First saw male run W across ramp and climb straight up the tree (this is all silhouetted). Kept observing, and after a while another form materialized. The second coon was much smaller. They came together, would part, scamper along a different bough. She didn't seem terribly interested to me, but eventually I heard noises -- little barks, mewings, and squeaks -- coming from their direction -- enough to attract the notice of a couple of dogwalkers.

This is my second raccoon sex sighting. The first was one Jan. morning, in 2003 or '04.