Ten Things I Like About... Podcast

Unbelievable Unknown Plants: Rafflesia

Summary: Rafflesia is a flower but not just any ole flower. Join Kiersten as she discusses this highly unusual plant.
 
For my hearing impaired listeners, a complete transcript of this podcast follows the show notes on Podbean
 
Show Notes: 
“Most of the world’s largest flowers (genus Rafflesia) are now on the brink of extinction,” by Pastor Malabrigo Jr, Adriane B. Tobias, Joko Witono, Sofi Mursidawati, Agus Susatya, Mat Eunuch Siti-Munirah, Adhityo Wicaksono, Reza Raihandhany, Sarah Edwards, and Chris J. Thorogood. https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp3.10431
“Rafflesia arnoldii,” Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, https://www.kew.org
Music written and performed by Katherine Camp
 
Transcript
(Piano music plays)
Kiersten - This is Ten Things I Like About…a ten minute, ten episode podcast about unknown or misunderstood wildlife.
(Piano music stops)
 
Kiersten - Welcome to Ten Things I Like About… This is a podcast about misunderstood or unknown creatures in nature. Some we’ll find right out side our doors and some are continents away but all are fascinating. 
My name is Kiersten and I have a Master’s Degree in Animal Behavior and did my thesis on the breeding behavior of the Tri-colored bat. I was a zookeeper for many years and have worked with all sorts of animals from Aba Aba fish to tigers to ravens to domesticated dogs and so many more in between. Many of those years were spent in education programs and the most important lesson I learned was that the more information someone has about a particular animal the less they fear them. The less they fear them the more they crave information about them and before you know it you’ve become an advocate for that misunderstood animal.
This podcast will focus ten, ten minute episodes on different animals and their amazing characteristics. Please join me on this extraordinary journey, you won’t regret it.
This series will be a bit different from previous ones because we’re going to talk about two unknown species. We’ll delve into two amazing plants that have quite unusual life cycles.  This is the first episode of a series focused on unbelievable, unknown plants.
The first plant I’m going to talk about is Rafflesia and the first thing I like about this plant is rafflesia itself. Rafflesia is actually the genus of 42 different species of plants. This genus includes the largest solitary flower in the world. Rafflesia arnoldii grows up to three feet in diameter and can weigh up to 15 lbs. That’s one heck of a big flower! 
This is also an amazingly beautiful flower. It has five large, rounded petals. The middle of the flower looks like a bit like a giant salad bowl, but that is just part of the outer petals. If you look at a side view of this flower the outer petals look like the letter Y. Beneath the inner lip of the flower sits the central column where the stamens are located. Almost every species of Rafflesia follows this basic anatomical pattern. Each one has it own distinct details but generally follows this pattern.
All Rafflesia are a red color with white or yellow spots all over. They look like a cartoon version of a flower. Maybe something you see in a Super Mario Brothers video game. The red hue varies by species and one is such a pale pink it almost looks white. The spots also vary is shape from round dots like a polka-dot pattern to round edged rectangles to blotches that have no discernible shape.
All Rafflesia that we currently know of are found in Southeast Asia. This is one of the most plant-rich areas on the planet and Rafflesia are found only here. As I stated before there are 42 species of this amazing plant and since the beginning of the 21 century the species count has doubled from the number described between 1821 and 1984. Thirteen species were described in 1997. 
Now I’m not done with the amazing facts about Rafflesia. These flowers are invisible for most of its life cycle, because the main part of the plant lives hidden within another plant. Rafflesia are considered parasitic.
The Oxford Languages Dictionary defines parasite as an organism that lives in or on an organism of another species and benefits by deriving nutrients at the other’s expense. Rafflesia are some of the most amazing parasites on Earth, as far as I’m concerned. We’ll delve more into this topic in a future episode, but the Rafflesia chose vines in the genus Tetrastigma as their host plants.
Island living is the life for Rafflesia. Most of them are found on small island throughout Southeast Asia. Some of them are found on only one island and no where else. 
Taxonomy is still disputed about these flowers so classifying them can be a challenge. Beyond classification, we know little about these plants. Why they chose the hosts that they choose, which species are found where, when they will bloom, and some much more. Scientists are still studying these amazing flowers, but time is running out. Many of these flowers habitats are disappearing at a terrifying rate. There may be rafflesia disappearing before scientists even discover them.
We will talk about all these topics in the first half of this series of Unbelievable unknown plants. I’m excited about this one listeners! I picked a great plant to start off with because my first favorite thing about rafflesia is rafflesia. 
 
If you're enjoying this podcast please recommend me to friends and family and take a moment to give me a rating on whatever platform your listening. It will help me reach more listeners and give the animals I talk about an even better chance at change. 
 
So join me next week for another episode about Rafflesia.    
 
(Piano Music plays) 
This has been an episode of Ten Things I like About with Kiersten and Company. Original music written and performed by Katherine Camp, piano extraordinaire.

Tanuki: Conservation

Summary: Are tanuki in danger of extinction? Join Kiersten to find out all about the conservation status of the tanuki.
 
For my hearing impaired listeners a full transcript is available in the show notes on Podbean
 
Show Notes: 
Nyctereutes procyonoides, Raccoon Dog. Animal Diversity Web. https://animaldiversity.org
“A path to human-raccoon dog harmony: identifying factors influencing the tolerance of urban residents in Shanghai towards a neglected species,” by  Qianqian Zhao, Yihan Wang, Lejie Wu, Yidi Feng, Yuhan Li, Zhuojin Zhang, Qing Zhao, and Fang Wang. People and Nature, Vol 6, Issue 3. Https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002//pan3.10636.
 Music written and performed by Katherine Camp
 
Transcript 
(Piano music plays) 
Kiersten - This is Ten Things I Like About…a ten minute, ten episode podcast about unknown or misunderstood wildlife.
(Piano music stops)
Welcome to Ten Things I Like About… I’m Kiersten, your host, and this is a podcast about misunderstood or unknown creatures in nature. Some we’ll find right out side our doors and some are continents away but all are fascinating. 
This podcast will focus ten, ten minute episodes on different animals and their amazing characteristics. Please join me on this extraordinary journey, you won’t regret it.
This is the final episode of Tanuki. A little bitter sweet for me because I’ve had a great time researching and talking about this truly unique canine, but here we are and the tenth thing I like about the raccoon dog is their conservation status.
Those of you who are consistent listeners know that I typically finish a series with a conservation episode and tanuki is no exception. This is a conservation episode with good news, overall, though. The raccoon dog is not in need of extreme conservation efforts as of this recording due to their adaptability. 
The IUCN Red List has the raccoon dog listed as Least Concern. IUCN stands for International Union for Conservation of Nature which was established in 1948 bringing conservation to an international stage. This organization brings the world together with a shared goal of protecting nature. The IUCN Red List categorizes animals and plants by their population levels in endemic habitats and regions. Ratings range from Unknown to Extinct. 
The raccoon dog is categorized as Least Concern which means their population levels are good and remain stable. This is mainly due to the raccoon dog’s adaptability, as I said before. They are excellent at using what their environment has to offer. This is good news. We don’t have tp worry about tanuki disappearing from the planet, but they are experiencing pressure from the same things that all animals and plants are suffering from.
Habitat loss is causing more and more individuals to move closer to human neighborhoods, loss of insects and amphibians is causing some populations to alter their diets, and changing temperatures are causing raccoon dogs to change behaviors to accommodate shorter hibernation times. 
Hunting is a concern. Raccoon dogs are hunted in every region they are found whether an endemic area or introduced. There is only one managed program involving hunting and that is within an introduced area. This is understandable. An adaptable animal in an introduced habitat can become destructive fairly quickly. The issue with hunting tanuki in their native habitat is that population numbers should be monitored so that they do not drop below genetically diverse numbers leaving no hope for recovery.  
Just because the raccoon dog’s population is doing well and we do not need to currently worry, it’s never too early to look at what conservation efforts need to include for the future.
A study recently released in March of 2024, is testing the waters. The research was done in Shanghai, China and the title of the paper is “A path to human-raccoon dog harmony: identifying factors influencing the tolerance of urban residents in Shanghai towards a neglected species.”  
One of the best places to start when considering how to sculpt a conservation plan is gathering information about how the people near the area feel about the flora and fauna of the area. How does this wild place impact their lives. Is it important to them? Would they miss if it disappeared? Do they know what that habitat supports? 
I believe that all habitats and animals should be conserved in their natural, true state just because they exist. We should conserve and preserve because they exist and for no other reason. Everything deserves a place to live and thrive and we, humans, are some of the most adaptable creatures on the planet, so we can change our behaviors to fit in with nature. Instead we alter everything to meet our needs. 
One of the best ways to get people onboard about conservation is to show them how these animals and wild places benefit us. It is a great tool to have in the conservationists backpack. The researchers in Shanghai wanted to know how residents felt about raccoon dogs. They devised a poll and collected 281 completed surveys from residents of Shanghai which is a rapidly developing city. Scientist wanted to investigate people’s knowledge, attitude, and tolerance towards raccoon dogs. They considered a few demographic variables such as gender, age, and education because they hypothesized that these might influence a person’s familiarity with raccoon dogs. They also included four variables of human dimensions such as familiarity with raccoon dogs, trust in wildlife management authorities, perceived benefits of raccoon dogs, and perceived risks of raccoon dogs. Using these four dimensions they designed multiple questions to quantify participant’s responses.
The surveys were conducted in 10 residential areas that have high human-raccoon dog conflict. The data revealed something I have known for a long time which is that when people are educated about an animal, they understand it more and then they care about it more. The recommendation from these scientists is: “To promote harmony between urban residents and nature and foster their affection for urban species, educational campaigns and citizen science, which refers to the participation of non-professional citizens in scientific research, can be used to address conflicts both between humans and wild animals and between people with different opinions.” I could not have said it better myself!
On that note, I’ll close the final episode of Tanuki with my tenth favorite thing being that the future of tanuki conservation looks bright.
 
 
If you're enjoying this podcast please recommend me to friends and family and take a moment to give me a rating on whatever platform your listening. It will help me reach more listeners and give the animals I talk about an even better chance at change. 
 
I’ll be taking a break for summer but I’ll be back in September. So join me in a month for a brand new series about another misunderstood or unknown creature.    
 
(Piano Music plays) 
This has been an episode of Ten Things I like About with Kiersten and Company. Original music written and performed by Katherine Camp, piano extraordinaire.

Tanuki: Human Use

Summary: Raccoon Dogs have a complicated relationship with humans. Join Kiersten as she talks about how humans use raccoon dogs.
 
For my hearing impaired listeners, a complete transcript of this podcast follows the show notes on Podbean
 
Show Notes: 
Nyctereutes procyonoides, Raccoon Dog. Animal Diversity Web. https://animaldiversity.org
The Origins of “Murmansk” Fur and Its Role in the Fashion Industry,” by Madison Dapcevich, https://www.snopes.com
Keeping Raccoon Dogs as Pets, https://www.rspca.org
Music written and performed by Katherine Camp
 
Transcript
(Piano music plays) 
Kiersten - This is Ten Things I Like About…a ten minute, ten episode podcast about unknown or misunderstood wildlife.
(Piano music stops)
Welcome to Ten Things I Like About… I’m Kiersten, your host, and this is a podcast about misunderstood or unknown creatures in nature. Some we’ll find right out side our doors and some are continents away but all are fascinating. 
This podcast will focus ten, ten minute episodes on different animals and their amazing characteristics. Please join me on this extraordinary journey, you won’t regret it.
The ninth episode of Tanuki isn’t exactly something I like about this animal but it is a reality for this animal. This episode we will discuss how humans use the raccoon dog.
The human relationship with nature, which we think we are removed from but in reality are impacted by and greatly impact, is often complicated. We love it, we hate it, we want to conserve it, we want to exploit it. Humans have struggled long and hard to figure out how we fit into the world in which we live.
Raccoon dogs are on a long list of living creatures that have a complicated relationship with humans. We love them, we hate them, we want to conserve them, we want to exploit them. And boy have we figured out how to exploit them.
As many invasive species around the world, raccoon dogs were introduce to other portion of the planet by humans, for use by humans. This is what happened to the raccoon dogs on Finland and Europe. They were brought there by humans for food and fur. Today raccoon dogs are still used for food and fur. 
In North America and portions of Europe we have made great strides to reduce the fur trade and it has been successful, but it still hangs on. I cannot fault humans from the past that used animal fur to survive in frigid weather, but back then the entire animal was often used for survival. One animal was hunted and everything was utilized. Today, for the most part, fur is fashion and I have never understood why humans think that fur looks better on them than on the animal that grew it. 
in Japan, China, and Russia, raccoon dogs are raised to supply the fur trade. The fur is often marketed as murmanski, tanuki, Asiatic raccoon or Finn raccoon fur. Murmanski or tanuki is often seen in European countries, where as North American markets see Asiatic raccoon or Finn raccoon fur most often. 
I am not entirely opposed to raising animals commercially for human use, but we must remember to give them the respect as living animals that they deserve. I am opposed to raising animals for use in fashion which is not necessary for our survival. 
Conditions within these fur farms are deplorable. Raccoon dogs are kept in overpopulated cages, fed only enough food to keep them alive long enough to grow to the desired size before being slaughtered and skinned. Raccoon dog fur is used mostly to trim the hoods of jackets or to make stoles or adorn other items of clothing. Raccoon dog fur is not useful for making coats to withstand freezing temperatures. Humans use this strictly as a fashion statement. Snopes also recently confirmed a research report that some labels claiming the fur trim on their clothing is faux fur is actually tanuki fur, so be aware when buying faux fur.
I found some reference to raccoon dog yarn, but could not get any substantial descriptions of what it is or how it is made. Some rumors say it is shaved from raccoon dogs once a year like sheep and processed into yarn, but I cannot confirm these reports. Regardless, I can’t imagine how many raccoon dogs you’d have to raise to make any profit off of this endeavor. Having large quantities of animals for profit usually leads to lax care. This is often marketed as tanuki yarn.
In Japan and China, tanuki may be on the menu. Several exotic meat markets in these Asian countries sell raccoon dog meat. Selling non-domesticated animals to eat is never a good thing. Most often these animals are hunted to near extinction in their native habitats which can throw the entire ecosystem off, creating even bigger problems not to mention killing a species that has every right to live merely because it exists. The other major problem with this practice is that it spreads disease. Wild animals are susceptible to disease. It is a natural part of life. Disease is one way that nature keeps populations of all living things in balance. When you kill wild animals and bring them into a market place to sell, you can also be sending home whatever diseases that animal is carrying with them. If the animal is not handled and prepared properly it could have disastrous results.
In several countries, there is a raccoon dog hunting season. Now, I have no problems with hunting these animals in countries that they have been introduced to, such as Finland, as long as they are hunted humanely without tortuous methods such as bear traps. Hunting them in their natural ranges is also acceptable as long as populations are managed so that their numbers never plummet to dangerous levels. 
Of course, why you are hunting these animals is important to me. In areas where they are injurious, such as an introduced habitat, I completely understand hunting them to remove them from a non-native area. Hunting them for the sheer joy of hunting to kill a living animal and trying to kill as many as possible, that I have issues with and have never understood.
Humans use raccoon dogs for one other thing, pets. Raccoon dogs are apparently popular pets in England, one of their non-native ranges. It is illegal in England to have them as a pet. Raccoon dogs do not make good pets. They are not a domesticated breed of dog so it does not matter how you raise them, they will always be wild animals. They need large areas to roam, a varied diet of items that most humans do not want to provide, in other words not dog food, and we do not know enough about their social structure to know if they can live without the company another raccoon dog. Keeping a wild animal in a human household is not a good idea for the human or the animal in question. Please do not buy a raccoon dog for a pet, no matter what anyone tells you. Keep in mind that most countries outside of their natural range, including the countries they were introduced to years ago, have outlawed buying, selling, or owning raccoon dogs as pets or commercial animals. This is to prevent them from escaping and setting up residence in that country, because these animals are extremely adaptable as we have learned from the rest of this series.
This has been a tough episode for me. It is hard for me to talk about the exploration of any wild animal, but I thought it was important information. This is the end of the ninth episode of the tanuki.  
If you're enjoying this podcast please recommend me to friends and family and take a moment to give me a rating on whatever platform your listening. It will help me reach more listeners and give the animals I talk about an even better chance at change. 
 
Join me next week for the penultimate episode about Tanuki.    
 
(Piano Music plays) 
This has been an episode of Ten Things I like About with Kiersten and Company. Original music written and performed by Katherine Camp, piano extraordinaire.

Tanuki: Mythology Part 2

Summary: We’re not yet done with the mythology of tanuki. Join Kiersten for another episode about the supernatural aspects of the raccoon dog.
 
For my hearing impaired listeners, a complete transcript of this podcast follows the show notes on Podbean
 
Show Notes:
https://mythick.com/tanuki
https://wildinjapan.wordpress.com
https://livejapan.com
https://www.curiuosordinary.com
https://sakura.co
Music written and performed by Katherine Camp
 
Transcript 
(Piano music plays)
Kiersten - This is Ten Things I Like About…a ten minute, ten episode podcast about unknown or misunderstood wildlife.
(Piano music stops)
Welcome to Ten Things I Like About… I’m Kiersten, your host, and this is a podcast about misunderstood or unknown creatures in nature. Some we’ll find right out side our doors and some are continents away but all are fascinating. 
This podcast will focus ten, ten minute episodes on different animals and their amazing characteristics. Please join me on this extraordinary journey, you won’t regret it.
The mythology of the Tanuki is vast and a little confusing, but it’s the eighth thing I like about this incredible animal.
In the seventh episode we also talked about mythology of the tanuki. We learned that the mythological raccoon dog has the ability to change shape. They can imitate people and inanimate objects, such as tea kettles. They are known to shape shift into people. Typically they pick people who enjoy gambling, cheating, drinking, stealing and lying. They will imitate government personnel and go to citizen’s houses to play tricks on them. They have even impersonated monks, learned Buddhism, then taught it to humans. I’m wondering how close their teachings were to true Buddhist teachings.
They are so good at imitating people that they can live several years, possibly an entire lifetime, as humans before changing back into tanuki. There are ways to tell if you have run into a tanuki in disguise. According to legend tanuki wear a certain kimono that gives them away, but I have’t found any description of what this kimono looks like or how it differs from a human kimono.  So I don’t know how helpful that tip is…
If you see someone walking in the rain and they are not getting wet, without using an umbrella presumably, they could be a tanuki. Also, if the tanuki becomes sufficiently distracted they may forget to keep their tail hidden which gives them away as not being human. 
Tanuki can also change inanimate objects into other objects. For example, they can change leaves into money which they will probably use to gamble or trick humans into selling them something for a pile full of leaves.
  Tanuki are portrayed as mischievous trouble makers, helpful tricksters, and devious murderer s. Whatever they are, they are found throughout Japanese cultural history. If you visit Japan, you will see statues in front of many stores and for sale to customers. The statues emphasize the helpful persona of the tanuki.
These statues all look the same because each item on the raccoon dog has meaning. These items represent the eight signs of good luck.
Item One: A straw hat: The straw hat is used to protect yourself from trouble and unexpected accidents.
Item Two: Big eyes: Big eyes help you observe and pay attention to everything around you so you can make correct decisions.
Item Three: A smiling face: A smile reminds you to be friendly and kind to others.
Item Four: Wine Bottle: The bottle contains Japanese sake, or rice wine, and represents learning the qualities and character of a person that does not have to worry about eating. This one is a bit confusing, but what I believe is that this encourages a person to take notice of those that work hard to keep their family fed.
Item Five: A book: The book is a place to record cash transactions. It is  important in creating trust when borrowing money to help build trusting relationships between people.
Item Six: Th belly drum: One of the stories from the last episode talks about the tanuki using their bellies as a drum. Th belly drum represents a steady, calm, and daring attitude in life.
Item Seven: The “golden-bags”, that is written in parentheses, represent luck that will get better and better and create more and more money or fortune.
Item Eight: The Tail They have a big fluffy tail, on the status and in reality. The tail on the statue helps to support the balance of the body implying stability. It also represents the end. This one makes perfect sense to me. It also means wishing for a firm ending to life or a certain event in life.
These statues are quite cute and certainly imply a sense of impish good luck.  
Let’s take a closer look at the “golden bags” that is the seventh item on our lucky statue. The “golden bags” come with parentheses because it refers to the tanuki’s scrotum.  A bit of a warning here, we will be taking about male genitals for the rest of this podcast, if that is offensive to you, please be aware. Also, gentleman, this conversation may become a bit traumatizing for you, so take care.
One of the strangest abilities mythological tanukis have is the ability to stretch their scrotum to incredible sizes!. Yes, I am talking about the skin that surrounds the testes, the reproductive organs, of most male mammals. 
Tanuki can enlarge and shape change their scrotum into unbelievable sizes and shapes. It’s actually such an intregal part of the tanuki legend that during the Edo period a Japanese artist created a series of prints depicting the many ways that tanuki use their scrotum. 
They can use them for fishing and hunting. One print shows four tanuki standing in knee high water, these tanuki look like humans with dog-like faces and tails, stretching their scrotum out like a fishing net. They use the skin to corral fish and scoop them up. 
Another print show a single tanuki throwing his scrotum, which is still attached to him, into the air from a cliff edge to catch flying cranes. Another hunting related print shows tanuki using the scrotum to carry their bounty by pulling it behind them or over their shoulders.
It doesn’t stop there. Tanuki can use their scrotum to workout. One print shows several tanuki using their expandable skin as weights. One is doing leg lifts while another dead lifts his scrotum. Two others are watching presumably cheering them on. Apparently this skin doesn’t just expand in size but can increase in density as well.
  Tanuki can also use their scrotums as weapons. One print shows a tanuki beating an extremely large catfish to death with his expandable pouch. It can also help them stay warm on a cold day. There is a print that shows five tanuki using their elastic skin as a tent, sleeping bag, and cloak. Convenient. If you forget your camping gear just find a kind tanuki that will share theirs.
One print shows tanuki using their scrotum as a boat carrying themselves and several other tanuki across the water. There are so many other things that they can use their scrotums for that I could go on for awhile, but I won’t because I think you get the picture. Also, I just can’t say the word scrotum one more time!
So to sum up, tanukis are a bit of a catch all for unexplainable supernatural activities. If you don’t know what it is, it’s probably a tanuki in disguise. 
This concludes the mythology episodes of tanuki. It was a bit of a crazy ride but it is my eighth favorite thing about raccoon dogs. 
 
If you're enjoying this podcast please recommend me to friends and family and take a moment to give me a rating on whatever platform your listening. It will help me reach more listeners and give the animals I talk about an even better chance at change. 
 
Join me next week for the penultimate episode about Tanuki.    
 
(Piano Music plays) 
This has been an episode of Ten Things I like About with Kiersten and Company. Original music written and performed by Katherine Camp, piano extraordinaire.

Tanuki: Mythology Part 1

Summary: Tanuki are also animals that are wrapped in mythology. Join Kiersten as she talks about the complicated mythology involving raccoon dogs.
 
For my hearing impaired listeners, a complete transcript of this podcast follows the show notes on Podbean
 
Show Notes:
https://mythick.com/tanuki
https://wildinjapan.wordpress.com
https://livejapan.com
https://www.curiuosordinary.com
https://sakura.co
Music written and performed by Katherine Camp
 
Transcript 
(Piano music plays)
Kiersten - This is Ten Things I Like About…a ten minute, ten episode podcast about unknown or misunderstood wildlife.
(Piano music stops)
Welcome to Ten Things I Like About… I’m Kiersten, your host, and this is a podcast about misunderstood or unknown creatures in nature. Some we’ll find right out side our doors and some are continents away but all are fascinating. 
This podcast will focus ten, ten minute episodes on different animals and their amazing characteristics. Please join me on this extraordinary journey, you won’t regret it.
The seventh and eighth thing I like about the Tanuki is the mythology surrounding this interesting animal. Mythology involving the tanuki is odd but abundant, so it will get two episodes. 
When I began doing research on the raccoon dog the first thing that popped up was Japanese mythology involving the tanuki. It wasn’t was I was looking for so I just pushed it aside and kept digging for the natural history of the raccoon dog. As you know, I haven’t found as much information as I’d like on this lovely canine, but I thought, why not talk a little bit about the mythology built around this curious creature. It is inspired by the live animal, after all.
Mythology often originates through the need for humans to explain the unexplainable. In doing that, we have attributed some very interesting qualities to the tanuki.
The Tanuki of mythology are bit complicated. They are portrayed as trouble makers, but also as entities that help humans. Original stories depict tanuki as evil doers with bad luck that possess humans. But later stories describe them as harmless pranksters. The Japanese word translated into English can be either monster tanuki or trickster tanuki. 
The earliest mention of the tanuki, as the mythological entity, is  from the second oldest written book in Japanese history. Finished in 720 by the prince of the imperial court. It mentions tanuki as shapeshifting creatures that cause a lot of trouble. Mythological tanuki bear a striking resemblance to the real life creature with a few exaggerated attributes, but we will talk more about that in the next episode.
What can we look forward to if we run into a mythological tanuki? Let’s look at a few folk tales to see what we might be in for.
Before we jump in, I apologize for butchering any of the Japanese names I am about to mention.
Bunbuku Chagama is the tale of a tanuki that transforms into a tea-kettle. It does this to repay a poor man who helped free it from a trap. I guess he was so poor he could not afford a tea kettle so that could be very useful. Anyway, the tanuki couldn’t withstand the heat from the fire and then became stuck and was unable to completely transform into the tanuki again. So he stayed with the old man and performed tightrope walking to earn money for the old man. This doesn’t sound too bad. Strange, but not too bad.
Shoji Tanuki Bayashi is the tale of a group of tanuki that try to scare away priests from a temple by transforming into various yokai, which are ghosts or demons. It was working until a new priest arrived and was not afraid of the apparitions, so the tanuki try to drive him away with noise by holding nightly parties. The priest sneaks into the party and deciding that they look like they’re having fun begins to play his shamisen, a tree-stringed traditional Japanese instrument. The tanuki took this a a challenge and replied by beating their bellies even louder. Mythological tanuki have large pot-bellies that they use like drums. The musical battle persisted for four nights. The leader of the tanuki beats too hard on his belly, killing himself. Hey, it’s all fun and games until someone pops a belly, right?
This last tale is a bit more gruesome. Kachi-kachi Yama is the dark story of  devious tanuki. A childless old couple that lived in the mountains had a special friend that they treated like a child, a wild hare. The couple also had a enemy, a raccoon dog. The raccoon dog openly taunted them and stole from their garden. One day the old man caught the raccoon dog and gave it to his wife asking her to make tanuki stew. Th etanuki pleaded for his life and begged the old woman to let him go. Being kind hearted, she released the tanuki who repaid her by beating her to death with a hammer. Some stories continue to tell how the tanuki made a stew out of the old woman and disguised himself as her until the old man came home and sat down to a hot bowl of tanuki stew. The raccoon dog then reveals who he is and what the old man is eating.
The tanuki runs away after the murder and deceit. When the hare hears about what happens it promises revenge and sets a trap for the tanuki. Stories vary, but the most common trap is the hare tricking the raccoon dog into carrying a bundle of firewood on its back. When the tanuki is completely involved in its task, the hare lights the wood on fire, taking revenge on the killer raccoon dog. 
This story is pretty bad. The first two were mostly harmless fun, but feeding someone wife to them, that’s dark. Throughout Japanese history, the mythological tanuki has been evil and vengeful as well as charming and playful. I guess it all depends on the outcome.
That’s all for the first half of Tanuki Mythology I can’t wait to share part two with you because the mythology of the Japanese tanuki is my seventh and eight favorite thing about them.
 
If you're enjoying this podcast please recommend me to friends and family and take a moment to give me a rating on whatever platform your listening. It will help me reach more listeners and give the animals I talk about an even better chance at change. 
 
Join me next week for another fascinating episode about Tanuki.    
 
(Piano Music plays) 
This has been an episode of Ten Things I like About with Kiersten and Company. Original music written and performed by Katherine Camp, piano extraordinaire.

Tanuki: Hunting

Summary: How do tanuki hunt for food? Join Kiersten as she shares some surprising behaviors that Tanuki use to catch prey.
 
For my hearing impaired listeners, a complete transcript of this podcast follows the show notes on Podbean
 
Show Notes:
Nyctereutes procyonoides, Raccoon Dog. Animal Diversity Web. https://animaldiversity.org
“Raccoon Dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides) In the Community of Medium-sized Carnivores n Europe: Its Adaptations, Impact on Native Fauna and Management pf the population.”, by Katrina Kauhala and Rafal Kowalczyk. https://researchgate.net
Music written and performed by Katherine Camp
 
Transcript 
(Piano music plays)
Kiersten - This is Ten Things I Like About…a ten minute, ten episode podcast about unknown or misunderstood wildlife.
(Piano music stops)
Welcome to Ten Things I Like About… I’m Kiersten, your host, and this is a podcast about misunderstood or unknown creatures in nature. Some we’ll find right out side our doors and some are continents away but all are fascinating. 
This podcast will focus ten, ten minute episodes on different animals and their amazing characteristics. Please join me on this extraordinary journey, you won’t regret it.
We’re more than halfway through Tanuki and the sixth thing I like about them is how they hunt and forage. Since tanuki are omnivores they do a little of both. I know we have talked about their diet already, but we’ll talk a bit more about how they find their food in this episode and we will also talk about what’s eating them. 
As you may remember from previous episodes, we don’t know as much about tanuki behavior in the wild as we should so this episode will be a bit shorter that average, but I will do my best to enlighten you on this episode’s topic.
We have already established that raccoon dogs are omnivores which means they eat both protein and vegetation.
Looking at the proteins that they eat, we can see a pattern. Raccoon dogs, regardless of where they are found, tend to eat similar proteins. Insects, frogs, bird eggs, shrews, crabs, fish, small reptiles, carrion, and human refuse. Can you see the pattern? They are all small prey items. What does this tell us? Raccoon dogs rely on their own capabilities to catch food. They do not hunt in packs, like some other canines, which means that they are restricted to hunting small prey or eating carrion. 
From radio telemetry studies that have been done in the last few years, we know that some raccoon dogs remain together in pairs throughout the year and we assume they hunt together. But this doesn’t mean they are going after larger prey together. These animals are approximately the size of red foxes, so two won’t be able to take down any larger prey than a single raccoon dog. 
Tanuki that live near enough to water will eat fish, crabs, and other aquatic life. I haven’t found many descriptive accounts, but it is known that they will dive under water to catch their prey. This truly surprised me because there are no other canids that do this to catch prey. I’d love to see some video!
They have also been seen catching fish from the shore using their paws to snag this slippery prey. This a unique behavior in the canid family, few, if any, other canines exhibit this hunting behavior. 
Raccoon dogs will also climb trees in search of food, which explains the bird eggs and the passerines, or songbirds, that are found in their feces. In Europe raccoon dogs have been blamed for the downswing in the populations of certain game birds, but no evidence has been found that supports this hypothesis. Eider eggs and meat have been found in the feces of Finnish raccoon dogs, but there is no evidence that they are hunting healthy eiders. It is postulated that they may have taken advantage of a disease that spread through this population of waterfowl. 
As of the recoding of this episode, there is no correlation between raccoon dog presence at the decline of bird populations in any habitat in which they are found.
When resources are low, Tanuki take advantage of human trash. We throw away a lot of stuff these critters can eat. It is not beneath them to take an easy meal where they can get it. 
When it comes to vegetation, tanuki will eat berries, fruits, flowers, seeds, bulbs, and roots of various plants. They love a little human garden and have no problems taking a nibble when they can. They are small and usually forage at night, so they can easily get in and out of areas without being seen. Their coloration, brown fur and black masked face, helps them blend in like little thieves in the night. 
Now that we know how they are finding food, let’s find out who hunts raccoon dogs. 
You’re not going to believe this listeners, but we don’t know what kinds of anitipredator behaviors raccoon dogs possess but we do know who eats them. I know, how can we know so much about this animal and also know so little. It really is amazing.
Raccoon dogs must worry about a plethora of animals that might be interested in hunting them including Gray wolves, Eurasian lynx, wolverines, Japanese Martens, golden eagles, sea eagles, Eurasian eagle owls, domestic dogs, and humans. Yep, that’s right humans eat these guys too. In Japan, tanuki are on the menu.
That’s all she wrote for this episode of tanuki. I’m glad you joined me for this one because how tanuki find their food is my sixth favorite thing about them.
If you're enjoying this podcast please recommend me to friends and family and take a moment to give me a rating on whatever platform your listening. It will help me reach more listeners and give the animals I talk about an even better chance at change. 
 
Join me next week for another fascinating episode about Tanuki.    
 
(Piano Music plays) 
This has been an episode of Ten Things I like About with Kiersten and Company. Original music written and performed by Katherine Camp, piano extraordinaire.

Tanuki: Reproduction

Summary: Let’s talk babies! The reproductive cycle of the Tanuki is simple but interesting! Join Kiersten as she walks you through the seasonal changes that brings Tanuki pups.
 
For my hearing impaired listeners, a complete transcript of this podcast follows the show notes on Podbean
 
Biology and Conservation of Wild Canids, edited by David W. Macdonald and Claudio Sillero-Zubiri. Raccoon dogs: Finnish and Japanese raccoon dogs - on the road to speciation?” By Kaarina Kauhala and Midair Saeki, pgs 217-226. https://static1.squarespace.com
Nyctereutes procyonoides, Raccoon Dog. Animal Diversity Web. https://animaldiversity.org
Music written and performed by Katherine Camp
 
Transcript 
(Piano music plays)
Kiersten - This is Ten Things I Like About…a ten minute, ten episode podcast about unknown or misunderstood wildlife.
(Piano music stops)
Welcome to Ten Things I Like About… I’m Kiersten, your host, and this is a podcast about misunderstood or unknown creatures in nature. Some we’ll find right out side our doors and some are continents away but all are fascinating. 
This podcast will focus ten, ten minute episodes on different animals and their amazing characteristics. Please join me on this extraordinary journey, you won’t regret it.
The fifth thing I like about Tanukis is their reproductive cycle. Like many mammals, raccoon dogs enter eastru only once a year; therefore, they bear young only once a year.
In the last episode we discovered that tanuki are monogamous, meaning the male and female mate with only one partner each year. In some populations these bonds may last year after year, where as other populations may only stay together one year.
Now, as we all know, before mating comes courting. So let’s start there. I’d love to tell you how they court each other with elaborate dance, vocalizations, or hide and seek, but we just don’t know. Not much research has been done on wild populations courting behavior. I’m unsure why. It could be either no one focused their research on the topic or it is difficult to find and observe courting behavior in the wild. 
From captive individuals, we have learned that scent-marking and male female interactions increase before the female ovulates. She is courted by three to four males and an up turned U-shape tail indicates that the male is interested in mating and may also play a role in determining dominance. Reluctantly, that’s about all we know about raccoon dog courting.
Once the male and female have determined they are a fit couple, they will mate. This behavior typically happens in early March and gestation lasts approximately 60 days. Pups are typically born sometime in May. This is not coincidence, listeners. It’s perfectly timed so that pups are born when there is abundant resources available. Nature, man, it is perfect.
For populations that hibernate through the winter, breeding season begins just after they wake to warmer temperatures. 
After the female is pregnant, the couple will find a burrow to call home. They will move into an abandoned badger or fox den and make it their own, and why not, quick move in and minimal energy output. Toward the end of gestation, the female will remain in the den while the male hunts for food and brings home dinner. 
Typically five to seven pups are born in each litter.  The young are altricial at birth, meaning they are born with closed eyes, very little hair, and the inability to care for themselves. They are covered in black fur without the mask facial markings. At nine or ten days, the pups eyes open and teeth emerge around fourteen to sixteen days. They will wean around 30 to 40 days, but until then they rely on mom for milk. By weaning time, their facial markings are evident making them look like miniature versions of their parents. 
While mom stays in the den with the pups, dad hunts for food bringing home the bacon, as they say. Once the pups are weaned, they transition to solid food and mom leaves the den. After being cooped up with her young, she goes out to hunt while dad take over parental duties. She will bring back food for the pups and until they are ready to leave the den male and female will trade off hunting and pupsitting duties. 
By about three months, they pups are the size of young adult raccoon dogs. Four month of age brings hunting lessons. The pups will follow mom and dad and learn how to hunt by watching their parents. At nice to eleven months, the pups will be full grown and out on their own. 
By the time they leave the company of their parents, they are sexually mature and the following spring, they will most likely be looking for mates of their own. We are not sure how long raccoon dogs live in the wild, but in a study of trapped tanuki the oldest males were approximately 5 and 1/2 years while the females were 7 and 1/2 years. Of 320 captured individuals, 68.4% were younger adults. It’s not terribly surprising tha these mammals mature at such a young age given that they may only live 5 to 7 years. 
In captivity, tanuki have lived to just over 14 years. 
That concludes this episode about the reproductive cycle of the tanuki. Thank you for listening because raccoon dog reproduction is my fifth favorite thing about this intriguing mammal.
 
  If you're enjoying this podcast please recommend me to friends and family and take a moment to give me a rating on whatever platform your listening. It will help me reach more listeners and give the animals I talk about an even better chance at change. 
 
Join me next week for another fascinating episode about Tanuki.    
 
(Piano Music plays) 
This has been an episode of Ten Things I like About with Kiersten and Company. Original music written and performed by Katherine Camp, piano extraordinaire.

Tanuki: Social Structure

Summary: How social are tanuki? Do they hang out in packs like wolves or solitary like a fox? Join Kiersten as she dives into the social structure of the raccoon dog.
 
For my hearing impaired listeners, a complete transcript of this podcast follows the show notes on Podbean
 
Show Notes:
Biology and Conservation of Wild Canids, edited by David W. Macdonald and Claudio Sillero-Zubiri. Raccoon dogs: Finnish and Japanese raccoon dogs - on the road to speciation?” By Kaarina Kauhala and Midair Saeki, pgs 217-226. https://static1.squarespace.com
“Latrine utilization and feces recognition in the raccoon dog, Nyctereutes procyonoides”, by I. Yamamoto. Journal of Ethology, June 1984.
Nyctereutes procyonoides, Raccoon Dog. Animal Diversity Web. https://animaldiversity.org
Music written and performed by Katherine Camp
 
Transcript 
(Piano music plays)
Kiersten - This is Ten Things I Like About…a ten minute, ten episode podcast about unknown or misunderstood wildlife.
(Piano music stops)
Welcome to Ten Things I Like About… I’m Kiersten, your host, and this is a podcast about misunderstood or unknown creatures in nature. Some we’ll find right out side our doors and some are continents away but all are fascinating. 
This podcast will focus ten, ten minute episodes on different animals and their amazing characteristics. Please join me on this extraordinary journey, you won’t regret it.
The fourth thing I like about Tanukis is their social structure. Canids have a variety of different social structures, from family packs like wolves, monogamous pairs like coyotes, and solitary lives like foxes. Today we’ll take a closer look at the raccoon dog’s social activities.
Tanuki are, genetically, more closely related to foxes than any other canine, but their social structure is more closely related to coyotes. We are still learning about these understudied animals, but what we know so far shows that tanukis pair off during the breeding season. Once they have paired off, it appears that they may stay together year round. If not closely together in distance they appear to at least share a home range. 
Telemetry data shows that tanukis remain in pairs or in small groups within the same home range throughout the year. A home range is a space that an animal can be consistently found that includes hunting grounds, a water source, and a denning site. Non-migratory animals typically remain in their home range for their entire life as long as all resources that they need continue to be offered in that home range.
During breeding season a male and a female tanuki pair off and will share a denning site to raise their offspring together. We will delve into reproduction and rearing the young in the next episode. 
As stated before, it is unclear whether mated pairs remain together throughout the year but there is evidence that they remain together when they are sleeping or resting. Some populations that live in colder regions will actually hibernate together. Pairs will endure the coldest times of the year in a den with their mate. By the way, tanuki are the only canids that hibernate, that we currently known of, anyways. 
As we’ve discovered in previous episodes, there are differences in behavior based on the location of the tanuki populations. There is no evidence that tanuki live in groups, consistently, in Finland. They will live in pairs with their young offspring, but do not stay together once the young are old enough to survive on their own. Here, the mated pair will stay together in their home range throughout the year. 
During the breeding season, in Finland, the mated pairs home ranges never overlap with other mated pairs. Outside of breeding season, some overlap can be seen but only peripherally. The home ranges of mated pairs is pretty stable, fluctuating with the seasons probably due to resource availability, but for the most part they utilize the same space year round. Juveniles that have left their birth home range and have yet to pair off with a mate, have much larger home ranges than mated pairs. This is due to searching for an acceptable home range and a mate of their own.
Japanese tanuki also appear to remain in pairs throughout the year, once they have mated. There is evidence that these bonds last for multiple years. Again, they will live with their young until the offspring are ready to head out on their own. Unlike the Finland populations, some Japanese individuals may return to their natal home range, that is where they were born, after they reach maturity. 
It is interesting that telemetry research shows tanuki from two different populations live in pairs and small groups for at least a portion of the year, because whenever they are seen by humans they appear to be alone. There are very few reports of seeing raccoons dogs together. I’m not sure what exactly what to think of that, but it’s an intriguing mystery. Don’t you think, listeners?
When I find out that animals are solitary or live in small groups, one of the behaviors that I always want to know about, is communication. All creatures need to communicate with others of their own kind, but how do they do it? Raccoon dogs have several ways to communicate with each other. 
Vocalizations are one way that tanuki communicate. They whine, whimper, and mew which are vocalizations that are often associated with friendly greetings or submissive interactions. They can also growl when threatened, but they do not bark. 
Body language is important to tanuki as with other canids, but raccoon dogs do not appear to use tail wagging as a form of communication. Most other canines will use tail wagging to communicate various intentions, but as far as we know the tanuki does not.
The tanuki does communicate in a unique way. They have social latrines. Yes, I said social latrines. This is a common spot where many tanuki will use the restroom. They urinate and defecate in these social areas, not at the same time, but in the same space. They will sniff the area each time they visit and appear to pick up some information from the piles of excrement. Other canids often use scent marking from urination and defecation to announce their territory boundaries, but tanuki use these latrines to pass information between family members and unrelated tanuki. We need to do much more research on these social latrines to determine what kind of information is passed at these social hubs.
Well, that’s all for the social behavior of the raccoon dog, we have a lot more to learn, but my fourth favorite thing about this canine is their social structure. 
If you're enjoying this podcast please recommend me to friends and family and take a moment to give me a rating on whatever platform your listening. It will help me reach more listeners and give the animals I talk about an even better chance at change. 
 
Join me next week for another fascinating episode about Tanuki.    
 
(Piano Music plays) 
This has been an episode of Ten Things I like About with Kiersten and Company. Original music written and performed by Katherine Camp, piano extraordinaire.

Tanuki: Diet

Summary: What are Tanuki eating? Join Kiersten as she discusses just what raccoon dogs are eating in the wild.
 
For my hearing impaired listeners, a complete transcript of this podcast follows the show notes on Podbean
 
Show Notes: 
Biology and Conservation of Wild Canids, edited by David W. Macdonald and Claudio Sillero-Zubiri. Raccoon dogs: Finnish and Japanese raccoon dogs - on the road to speciation?” By Kaarina Kauhala and Midair Saeki, pgs 217-226. https://static1.squarespace.com
 
Music written and performed by Katherine Camp
 
Transcript 
(Piano music plays)
Kiersten - This is Ten Things I Like About…a ten minute, ten episode podcast about unknown or misunderstood wildlife.
(Piano music stops)
Welcome to Ten Things I Like About… I’m Kiersten, your host, and this is a podcast about misunderstood or unknown creatures in nature. Some we’ll find right out side our doors and some are continents away but all are fascinating. 
This podcast will focus ten, ten minute episodes on different animals and their amazing characteristics. Please join me on this extraordinary journey, you won’t regret it.
This is episode three and the third thing I like about raccoon dogs is their diet. I actually do enjoy some of the same foods that raccoons dogs eat, but what I really like about their diet is how varied it is depending on their location.
As mentioned before, Tanuki are classified as omnivores. Omnivores are animals that eat both meat and veggies. This is exactly what the Tanuki does. Let’s look at what often determines the kind of food animals eat, their teeth.
Tanukis are canids, which is the family of animals that include wolves, foxes, and domestic dogs. These animals usually share the same kind of dentition, or structure and layout of teeth. Most canids are classified as carnivores, even though many do eat fruits and vegetables at some time during the year.
Takunis have six incisors in the top jaw and six incisors in the bottom jaw. They have two canines, top and bottom. They have four premolars, top and bottom. And two to three molars, top and bottom. This gives them a total of 42 to 44 teeth. This is a typical amount for a canine. In canids, the premolars are carnassial teeth. These are essentially modified molars that are sharp to help shred and tear meat. The carnassial teeth in the Tanuki are reduced compared to other canids and their molars are larger. This pattern speaks to their omnivorous diet.
In the previous episodes we discussed a few differences between the indigenous Japanese populations and the introduced Finnish populations. We will continue this comparison with their teeth, because there are noticeable difference between the different populations, so much so that scientists can determine the origin of a raccoon dog by inspecting their teeth. Whoa! That’s exactly what I thought, too!
The case study I’m referencing measured 65 skulls from Finland raccoon dogs and 104 skulls from raccoon dogs in Honshu, Japan. They took 22 different measurements of adult teeth and skulls. The skulls of Finnish raccoon dogs were larger both overall and in relative body size than those of the Japanese population. Mandible width and jaw height were the most useful measurements in determining location of each raccoon dog with a 100% correct classification. 
The mandibles of the Finnish raccoon dogs are more robust with a more powerful jaw than those of Japanese origin. Japanese individuals have a longer snout with longer tooth rows than the Finnish specimens. Molars of the Japanese raccoon dogs are larger in relation to skull size versus the Finnish Tanuki. What do these differences in skull and tooth morphology tell us about these creatures? Excellent question, listeners! It tells us what they are eating. 
So what are Tanuki eating in the wild. As we just discovered, it appears to depend on where they are located. I find that fascinating! They are the same animal but their diet varies depending on what habitat they live in. It shows how adaptable they are and this is certainly an attribute they share with the North American Raccoon, after whom they are named. 
Tanuki, in general, are ominous, which means they eat both meat and vegetation. The percentage and type of food varied depending on Japan versus Finland. As we just determined, Finland raccoon dogs have slightly larger jaws meaning their massater muscles are larger which in turn mean they probably eat more meat and possibly larger prey than Japanese Tanuki. 
How do researchers determine what animals in the wild are eating? Poop! A lot of poop. Scientists, often undergraduates eager to get into the sciences, collect lots and lots of feces. You have to note the area where it is found, the date, time of day, and any other factors that might be important, such as the weather. These samples are then returned to the lab were they will be processed and someone gets to dissect an awful lot of poo! 
In this case study the researchers determined that thought the year the diet of raccoon dogs, whether in Finland or Japan, varies. This is most likely due to natural resource fluctuations. In Finland frogs, lizards, and invertebrates are commonly eaten in summer and autumn. Fish are eaten in late winter. Berries and fruits are eaten in late summer and autumn. If we look at food resources in percentages we see 56% of mammals, voles and shrews being very popular, 34% were bird remains, 8% were frogs or lizards, 20% fish, 51% invertebrates, 89% plants, and 49% carrion, which is dead, decaying animal matter.
A note on the most common bird remains found in Finland raccoon dog feces, the Common Eider, a type of duck found in coastal waters, and eggs were most often found in Finland’s raccoon dogs feces. It is not believed that at the time of the recording of this podcast that the predation of the Tanuki on the Common Eider in Finland detrimentally impacts their populations.
Let’s take a look at the diet of the Japanese populations. In Japan, Tanuki diet has been studied in different habitats. For the most part, it follows the same pattern as the Finland population with invertebrates fruits, rodents, birds, frogs and fish. In the subalpine zone diet consisted of 90% insects mainly Coleoptera, which is the family that includes a lot of beetles, and these were seen year round. 58% included earthworms except in the cooler months of January to April. Berries and seeds made up 49% of the diet. These were also seen year round with a lower amount in January to April when fewer plants are producing berries and seeds. 46% of the diet consisted of small mammals, January to June. 
In mountainous regions diet consisted of 78 to 100% of Coleoptera insects in spring and summer, Orthoptera in autumn, that’s grasshoppers and crickets, and Hemiptera, which includes the True Bugs, in winter. Fruits are eaten year round with a percentage of 77 to 100%, except in May. This is may be because the fruits are just ripening at this time. From April to December, crustaceans, such as Japanese freshwater crabs, make up 28 to 71% of the diet with fish at 9 to 27%, birds 8 to 21%, small mammals 7 to 25%, carrion consisting mainly of sika deer and serow, aka goat-antelopes, at 10 to 37%. 
In the countryside, insects seem to be the most important food resource year round with available fruits such as persimmon supplementing the diet in autumn and early winter. 
In urban and suburban areas, raccoon dogs will feed mainly around human dwellings and have included garbage into their diet. No surprise there! Any animal that has adapted to living in human dominated areas has taken advantage of our propensity to create a lot of trash. Garbage was found year round at a percentage of 72%, with insects, mainly beetles, at 46%, persimmon fruit at 30% in spring and summer, earthworms at 24%, birds at 21% in winter and spring, and Myriapoda, millipedes and centipedes at 11% year round.  
This may have been a bit more specific than you expected in our talk about diet. But I found the differences and similarities across the populations interesting enough to highlight the percentages. Plus, someone did a lot of poop scooping and dissection to get this information, so I thought I’d spread the information around as far as possible. No pun intended. 
Once again I think this episode shows the adaptability of the Tanuki and makes them an even more fascinating canine. Thanks for hanging in there to the end, listeners, because my third favorite thing about this unknown canine is their diet.
If you're enjoying this podcast please recommend me to friends and family and take a moment to give me a rating on whatever platform your listening. It will help me reach more listeners and give the animals I talk about an even better chance at change. 
 
Join me next week for another fascinating episode about Tanuki.    
 
(Piano Music plays) 
This has been an episode of Ten Things I like About with Kiersten and Company. Original music written and performed by Katherine Camp, piano extraordinaire.

Tanuki - Where are you?

Summary: Where are tanuki found? Join Kiersten as she looks at the range of the Japanese raccoon dog.
 
For my hearing impaired listeners, a complete transcript of this podcast follows the show notes on Podbean
 
Show Notes: 
Biology and Conservation of Wild Canids, edited by David W. Macdonald and Claudio Sillero-Zubiri. Raccoon dogs: Finnish and Japanese raccoon dogs - on the road to speciation?” By Kaarina Kauhala and Midair Saeki, pgs 217-226. https://static1.squarespace.com
 
Music written and performed by Katherine Camp
 
Transcript 
(Piano music plays)
Kiersten - This is Ten Things I Like About…a ten minute, ten episode podcast about unknown or misunderstood wildlife.
(Piano music stops)
Welcome to Ten Things I Like About… I’m Kiersten, your host, and this is a podcast about misunderstood or unknown creatures in nature. Some we’ll find right out side our doors and some are continents away but all are fascinating. 
This podcast will focus ten, ten minute episodes on different animals and their amazing characteristics. Please join me on this extraordinary journey, you won’t regret it.
  Last episode I introduced you the Japanese raccoon dog, the tanuki. In this episode we’re going to talk about where they can be found. Which I s the second thing I like about them. You may be thinking, it’s a Japanese raccoon dog, so what more is there to discuss. They’re from Japan. You are right, listener, but that’s not the end of the story. Let’s take a deeper dive into where the tanuki can be found.
The native range of the raccoon dog covers much of China, northeast Indochina, Korea, Amur, and Ussuri regions of Eastern Siberia, Mongolia, and Japan. 
The earliest known ancestors of the raccoon dog are 3.7 million years old. Fossils of a subspecies was found in Europe 4 million years ago. Nyctereutes megamastoides, a large ancestor of raccoon dogs, lived in Europe while another subspecies, Nyctereutes sinensis lived in China during the Pliocene era and the early Pleistocene era. The distribution of this animal decreased during the Pleistocene. Nyctereutes megamastoides went extinct and Nyctereutes sinensis decreased in size. The later Chinese species evolved into the modern species we know today.
The ancestors of todays residents of Japan probably colonized this area between 0.4 Ma and 12,000 years ago using the Sakhalin or Korean peninsulas. When the Japan Sea opened approximately 12,000 years ago the modern tanuki became isolated from other subspecies. These individuals began to adapt to a mild marine climate.
Another subspecies evolved in Russia adapting to much colder climates. Their fur caught the eye of humans who introduced them to European parts of the Soviet Union in the first half of the twentieth century. As many introduced species do, the raccoon dog spread quickly and was detected in Finland in the 1930s. The Finnish population peaked in the 1980s and has remained stable. Raccoon dogs are currently among the most numerous carnivores in Finland.
The two different populations of raccoon dogs have evolved to be distinct from each other in size and behavior. We’ll talk more about these differences in future episodes. 
  Where within these two distinctive populations, Japan and Finland, can we find the raccoon dogs? In Japan, they can be found all over the country, but they can be classified into mountain types and village types, at least in the satoyama habitat where their home range use was studied. The mountain type where found to favor secondary forest and herbaceous areas. The village type was found in agricultural landscapes. Within both of these types, the least favorite habitats were the cedar plantations and the most favored were rice fields. Much like this mammals, namesake, the North American raccoon, tanuki can be found in urban areas as well. Within urban cities, they are found most often in areas with forest cover.
In Finland, the tanuki uses different habitat seasonally. In southern Finland they used a barren heath habitat in all seasons, while they used moist heath habitat in late summer. Lake shore were all popular in both summer and autumn where food resources were plentiful regardless of the season. Water is also useful when these mammals encounter domestic dogs. They often run into the water to get away from the dogs.
Rock piles on barren heaths provide great denning options during breeding season. When young are able to leave the den in mid-summer, parents will take them into meadows and abandoned fields. In late summer moist heath fields attract these omnivorous creature with abundant berries and insects. Autumn leads the raccoon dog to pine forests in search of abundant berries and into human cultivated gardens.
I found it interesting that these two populations used available habitat and resources in different ways. It shows how adaptable these creatures are. It speaks well of their continued survival in an ever changing world. It also, once again, shows a similarity with their namesake, Procyon lotor.   
That’s it for this episode of the Tanuki. I know we got a little scientific in this episode but my second favorite thing about this critter is where they are found and that could only be described with a little fossil talk. Thanks for hanging in there.
 
If you're enjoying this podcast please recommend me to friends and family and take a moment to give me a rating on whatever platform your listening. It will help me reach more listeners and give the animals I talk about an even better chance at change. 
 
Join me next week for another fascinating episode about Tanuki.    
 
(Piano Music plays) 
This has been an episode of Ten Things I like About with Kiersten and Company. Original music written and performed by Katherine Camp, piano extraordinaire.