UPDATE:Eye-opening raccoon facts

Many of us have at least some impression of, or experience with, a raccoon. Perhaps it comes from some adventure (or misadventure) at a family picnic or while on a camping trip. Maybe you have caught the eyes of one with your car lights on a dark night, had one nesting in your attic or had to discourage one from raiding your garbage at some point.

Despite the mischief this "masked bandit" can sometimes cause, the raccoon plays an important role in the ecosystem by helping to maintain healthy populations and distributing seeds from what is caught or foraged.

The widely distributed Common or Northern Raccoon (Procyon lotor) fills an important ecological niche in and around Upper Newport Bay, as well as throughout much of the Western hemisphere. In addition to P. lotor, there are two other species. These are the Crab-eating Raccoon (P. cancrivorus) and Tres Marias Raccoon (P. insularis), species native to the tropics and the Caribbean, respectfully. It is P. Lotor, however, with a range from southern Canada, through Central America and into parts of South America; that is most numerous and represents the species that most of us know.

Raccoons belong to the Genus Procyon, part of the Procyonidae Family, which includes of a number of considerably lesser-known species, including the Civet cat, Coatis, Kinkajous, Olingos and Cacomistle. The genus name, Procyon, is from the Greek, meaning "pre-dog," suggesting the lineage the raccoons share with the dog. The common name raccoon is derived from the Algonquin word, aroughcoune — "he who scratches with his hands."

Despite what is best described as a wide and varied diet, the omnivorous raccoon is technically a member of the Carnivora order. Within the order, members are further classified according to foot structure. As such, the stocky, muscular but agile raccoon, along with the bear and man, is described as plantigrade, meaning that it walks on the sole, or plantar side, of its feet. This is in contrast to dogs and cats, which are digitgrade, walking on their toes, and still further removed from seals, sea lions and walruses, which are pinniped, using fins.