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I'm doing research for a children's picture book and thought perhaps someone here could help. I need to provide the name for a baby raccoon. I know baby raccoons have been called both "cubs" and "kits," but due to the particular format and conventions of the book, I simply needed to pick one over the other. I chose "cub," but I am now wondering if that is indeed a safe decision or if there is any info that would suggest "kit" to be a more appropriate pick.
Is there a distinction between how/when/where cub vs. kit is used when referring to raccoons?
• Perhaps regional differences?
• Is one an earlier term that is being replaced with the more recent?
• Is one term more scientific and one more common-use? (for example, baby rabbits are commonly called "bunnies," although technically they are "kits" or "kittens")
• Do the terms distinguish between older and younger raccoon offspring?
• Are cub and kit simply interchangeable?
• OR is one actually incorrect?
Thanks for any help with this!
- AZ
The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History website has a page on racoons and uses the word cubs. I'm not saying other words are wrong, but I would be very comfortable using the same language on the subject as the Smithsonian. If they're wrong, just point. (That is, of course, unless you are writing a children's book for the Smithsonian, in which case I have provided no service whatsoever.)
Females can breed when they are not yet a year old, and typically have litters of four young, which they raise themselves. The female nurses her cubs for about 70 days. The cubs' eyes open at 18—24 days and they begin exploring the world outside the den when they are 9—10 weeks old.
The Canadian Wildlife Federation seems to use kit. They also refer to "a mother raccoon and her babies" and "Mother raccoon herds her young along" so my feeling is that this context is a little less formal or academic than the Smithsonian. Then there is an article abstract on the website of the National Institutes of Health. This article is from the Laboratory of Large Animal Pathology, University of Pennsylvania, School of Veterinary Medicine, and it uses the word kit.
I think that the CWF, U of P School of Veternary Medicine, and others, carry enough weight to allow that kit is also credible. So in answer to your title question, I would have to say "both."
After exploring the cans in the back, several raccoon kits discovered they could not get back out.
Rotaviral enteritis in a raccoon.
Hamir AN, Morin M, Rupprecht CE.Laboratory of Large Animal Pathology, University of Pennsylvania, School of Veterinary Medicine, Kennett Square 19348.
Abstract
A hand-reared raccoon (Procyon lotor) kit had severe diarrhea and died within 24 hr. Gross and histopathologic findings were compatible with a diagnosis of viral enteritis. The immunoperoxidase test revealed rotavirus group A antigen in the intestinal mucosa. This is the first record of rotaviral enteritis in a raccoon.
Martha Barnette
Grant Barrett
Grant Barrett
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