Unusual raccoon?

What is happening with this raccoon? It looks like a possum!

This raccoon looks a bit unusual because it’s missing some fur, most visibly from its tail and front legs.

(Raccoons owe so much of their signature appearance to their distinctive, fluffy fur that they can be almost unrecognizable without it!)

Though raccoons typically experience some fur loss during the spring molt (when they shed their thicker, winter coats), that usually looks like small bald patches all over the animal’s body.

The raccoon in your photo shows TOTAL fur loss on its front legs and tail. This kind of large-area fur loss is typically caused by some kind of an infection, such as fungal infections or skin-burrowing mites (like mange/scabies). Here’s a terrific guide to mange infections from the veterinarians at the Cornell Wildlife Health Lab.

This raccoon seems to have lost all of the fur from the easily gnawed parts of the body. That could be a sign that it’s suffering from an itchy infection. Thanks for sharing your raccoon sighting!

-Naturalist Chris Mentrek