Spring in Their Step

They disappear into sewer drains. They travel miles through subterranean systems. They scavenge from garbage cans and scarf dog food that you leave outside. They nest in chimneys, crawlspaces, and under your porch. They’re raccoons (Procyon lotor). I’ve seen a couple of them recently, running across the street, headed toward the sewers. The weather lately has been making me think about spring, and they are anticipating it as well. They mate January through March, and have a gestation period of about 63 days, meaning their kits are born in spring, which begins on March 20 this year and ends on June 20. But, the longer daylight is making me anticipate signs of spring other than raccoon locomotion, including the emerging leaf buds on the trees, the birds transforming into breeding plumage, and the eagle monitoring I’ll begin this week. The raccoons and my thoughts about spring may collide, though, if I fail to clean up the birdseed underneath my feeder.