Sometimes there is no news. Sometimes we have to tell you about dog sweaters. Today we will tell you about the Raccoon Dog.
The Raccoon Dog is a member of the canid family but is not a true dog. It is called a raccoon dog because it bears a superficial resemblance to a raccoon. It is a basal genus of Canidae, meaning it branched off into it's own adorable subgroup earlier than others. It is believed that the Racoon Dog family Nyctereutes has been evolutionarily distinct for seven to ten million years.
Like most dogs, the Raccoon Dog is omnivorous, but is unique in the range of different foods it will eat, which includes pretty much anything including berries, seeds, crabs and other marine life - another similarity to true raccoons... It also has curved claws that allow it to climb trees making it the only canid capable of climbing trees other than the Grey Fox (this is debatable if the film Man's Best Friend is to be believed...). It also is the only canid known to go into a torpor in the winter. Finally, it doesn't bark and rarely fights, preferring to hide, play dead or scream when alarmed... On a side note, that's all those engineers that invented the Robo Dog need is to give the thing a dog scream...
Raccoon Dogs can be found throughout much of Japan, Korea, China and Siberia. In Japan they have cultural significance and can be found in legend, art, song, and video games! For real, both Mario's "Tanooki Suit (tanuki in Japanese)" and "Raccoon Suit" in Mario Brothers 3 were often misunderstood by ignorant American 9 year olds like my brother to be a bear suit and raccoon suit respectively! Not true! It was Mario taking on the less than intimidating defensive tactics of the Raccoon Dog!
In the wild, Raccoon Dogs also symbiotically infect violent Italians, have a penchant for gold coins and fight boomerang wielding anthropomorphic turtles.
Comments
I don't mean to be rude, but you forgot to mention that in Japanese folklore, the tanuki has enormous testicles.
Posted by: Hypatia | March 25, 2008 12:19 PM
thats about the least cute thing you could share about this critter. it is appreciated though.
Posted by: Andrew | March 25, 2008 12:39 PM
I found evidence for what Hypatia said: http://www.kuniyoshiproject.com/raccoon%20Dogs%20(R209).htm
Posted by: pough | March 25, 2008 12:54 PM
Wow! Whoever you are you're very smart. ^-^ and I really liked that, it was good. Maybe my mom will let us get a Raccoon dog if I convice her it really is a dog. xD
Posted by: Emily Kate | July 20, 2008 7:57 PM
Racoon Dog
Posted by: Sheri LaGrave | October 24, 2008 8:39 PM
cool raccoon dogs!i would put more info in this website oh and by the way visit pprrdd.city max.com and leave a comment
Posted by: paris | November 6, 2008 3:19 PM
visit pprrdd.city max.com
Posted by: paris | November 6, 2008 3:21 PM
This is just weird...
Posted by: Colorado Springs American Bulldogs are cooler... | November 10, 2008 1:00 PM
Ah yes, for an excellent example of the tanuki (and their giant testicles as Hypatia mentioned...) watch the movie Pom Poko (by Studio Ghibli).
Posted by: Monica | November 17, 2008 6:32 PM
Plz visit, www.doggie.com. You'll like it if you like dogs or raccoons (but mostly dogs) Hey, If you have any questions about the website, email me @ Kayladogz@gmail.com. K? Thanks.
Posted by: Emma | November 29, 2008 7:33 PM
Sadly, these animals are brutally killed by heartless people in China. They are skinned alive for fur.
Posted by: Richie | February 2, 2009 4:02 AM
Don't forget to mention that in China these sweet faced harmless creatures are slammed on the ground and then skinned alive so they can sell their fur. Check out a video if you can stomach, it will be your worst nightmare. The savages that inhumanely slaughter these sweet creatures should also be skinned alive. Don't buy anything from China.......
Posted by: Regina | February 18, 2009 10:37 AM
This is there life:http://video.hsus.org/?fr_story=3cd5ce39ab3f5cbde85e1b4121b06731d31f305
Posted by: Regina | February 18, 2009 10:41 AM
Regina and Richie,
In fact, American companies are part of the Chinese fur trade too and are profiting from the deaths of raccoon dogs.
To see images of fur farm raccoon dogs from Google's partners in China, check out http://furisevil.org
Posted by: Duke the Antifur Dog | May 3, 2009 3:38 PM
where can you find and buy one in the United States, thank you
jan telman
616-322-4185
Posted by: Jan Telman | May 30, 2009 7:15 PM
A friend of mine posted on facebook the most horrifying video i ever seen about the cruelty of Raccoon dogs in China farms...A shame to human race of what they were doing to the poor animals for money...Raccoon's were being torture and killed with pleasure alive...It made me sick...I can't take it off my mind of what i saw...I can't call these people humans...sorry they can been anything but for sure they are not humans...I SAY NO TO FUR!!!!
Posted by: AJ | October 9, 2009 7:17 AM