Raccoon

"None of us had ever seen anything like these creatures. [...] They were black, white, and gray, with black around their eyes and white around their muzzles. They walk on four legs like we do, but they can stand on their hind paws like a Twoleg. And they can grip things like a Twoleg, with their front and back paws. Their ears are like ours, but they have short, pointed muzzles like a fox. They're very vicious."

— Leafstar about the raccoons in Hawkwing's Journey, page 93

Raccoon
Friendly
Current:	Hostile
Creature type
Species:	P. lotor
Book appearances
Living:	Hawkwing's Journey

Raccoons are medium sized, fox-like animals that currently live near SkyClan territory in the gorge. They were previously kept as pets by Twolegs before escaping and wrecking havoc on SkyClan.

Description

Notice: The following content describes raccoons from the perspective of the Warriors books. Thus, only some or none of this content may be factual information. For more accurate descriptions of raccoons, please refer to external sources.

«Hawkwing froze, amazed at his first sight of one of the vicious creatures that had attacked his Clanmates while he was away. It was black, white, and gray, with black rings around its eyes. Its claws were long and flexible, reminding Hawkwing of a Twoleg's forepaws. He had no doubt about how dangerous it was.»

—Hawkwing about the raccoon ^{Hawkwing's Journey, page 204}

Raccoons are thick-furred, black, white and gray creatures with black rings around their eyes and white around their short, pointed muzzles that resemble a fox's. Their claws are long and flexible, similar to Twoleg forepaws, and can grip with both forepaws and backpaws. They can also walk on four legs but can stand on their hind legs. Their ears are similar to those of cats. They also have sharp teeth and claws, capable of delivering numerous wounds to their enemies. Raccoons live near Twolegplaces and typically feast upon Twoleg rubbish and prey. At times, Twolegs keep them as pets but they occasionally escape, such as the ones that terrorized SkyClan. They also make a growling noise when threatened.

Relation to cats

"It's time to change our strategy. To begin with, patrols will be large from now on. The raccoons may have been driven off for the time being, but if they think we are weak, or that there aren't many of us, they'll try to attack again for sure."

―Sharpclaw after the raccoon attack ^{Hawkwing's Journey, page 141}

Typically, raccoons live near Twolegplaces where they eat Twoleg rubbish, though Ebonyclaw detected the familiar yet strange scent on SkyClan's territory. Darktail lures the raccoons to SkyClan's territory using Twoleg rubbish and prey, resulting in the raccoons moving to SkyClan's territory and attacking their camp, presenting a huge danger for the cats. They are capable of killing cats, such as Honeytail and Leafstar, and fight with their claws and teeth. They are usually in groups but when caught alone, they will still attack cats. They do not fight as viciously though, and are susceptible to flee sooner. SkyClan is unaware of what raccoons are until Darktail informs them, passing along the information he learned from local kittypets.

When raccoons escape from their Twoleg captives, they live in the wild nearby SkyClan territory. Twolegs keep their kittypets shut in to keep them safe from the raccoons when they were loose. The raccoons attack SkyClan twice, and arrive in greater numbers the second time. Leafstar and Sharpclaw extend SkyClan's borders and order larger patrols in hopes of deterring the raccoons away, though every cat is on edge.

Known deaths

This is a list of cats, ordered chronologically, who were killed by raccoons.

• Honeytail
• Leafstar (one life)

History

In the Super Editions

Hawkwing's Journey

When the patrol from the quest to find ThunderClan returns to SkyClan unsuccessfully, they learn from Leafstar that the camp was attacked by a group of strange animals, resulted in numerous wounded and Honeytail's death. Hawkwing worries that it must have been their scent that he and Ebonyclaw smelled on the day of the fire, but Leafstar reassures him that it didn't make a difference, as they couldn't have prevented the attack. Pebblepaw questions where Harveymoon is, and Leafstar replies that he is with his Twolegs now, as most of the daylight warriors' Twolegs have been keeping them inside their dens since the strange animals moved in.

When the Clan leader learns about Billystorm's death, she asks StarClan why so many terrible things are happening to the Clan, including the strange animals who attacked, the failed quest, and the fire. The SkyClan leader calls a Clan meeting. During the meeting, Hawkwing accuses Darktail for giving false directions to the questing cats, but most of SkyClan defends the rogue's honor since he fought hard against the strange creatures. Darktail explains that these animals are called raccoons and they are sometimes kept as pets by Twolegs. He learned from some local kittypets that these raccoons escaped their Twoleg captors and are now living in the wild.

Another quest is taken to attempt to find ThunderClan, but they fail again. When they return to the gorge, they learn that SkyClan has again been attacked by raccoons, with more of them in numbers. They have also taken one of Leafstar's lives. Leafstar adopts a new plan to keep the raccoons away: she makes patrols larger so the raccoons would not think there are not many cats left and they would be an easy target. Cloudmist notes it will be difficult but worth it if it keeps the raccoons away. Darktail's loyalty is questioned but Hawkwing defends him this time, reminding them of how hard he fought against the raccoons. During patrol, Hawkwing is alert for any signs raccoons returning, but never meets any. Leafstar extends the SkyClan border and it is thought that it's because she wants to deter the raccoons. Hawkwing notices Darktail leaving Twoleg food over SkyClan territory and decides not to mention it because Leafstar and Sharpclaw are already stressed about the raccoons.

SkyClan is eventually driven out of the gorge and separated. Hawkwing, Pebblepaw, Echosong, Fidgetkit and Curlykit come across a raccoon. The raccoon attacks Echosong and Hawkwing is hesitant to react since he never fought one before, though he and Pebblepaw quickly chase it off. Pebblepaw mentions that the raccoon wasn't as vicious as they were when they attacked the gorge. Hawkwing suggests they are not as brave when they are alone, and it seemed surprised. As Pebblepaw and Hawkwing hunt, the apprentice mentions to keep an eye out for raccoons. She adds that it is strange how they suddenly have appeared in the territory often, especially when they've never been seen before. Hawkwing remembers how Darktail scattered Twoleg food and thinks he did it to lure the raccoons into the territory. Pebblepaw says she saw Darktail leave half-eaten prey outside camp, probably to lure the raccoons to the gorge.

External links

• Raccoon