Red panda, raccoon, civet cat, who is the real "Instant Noodle King"?

Speaking of snacks that we have had since childhood, instant noodles must be one of them. The snack that was once popular - "Little Raccoon Instant Noodles" has a fat little raccoon with a long tail and a small painted face printed on the food packaging. The blue sky, the yellow-green cornfield, and the brown little raccoon wearing a colorful hat are about to applaud; under the blue sky and white clouds, in the tall pine forest, the brown little raccoon with a white belly is running with a torch... This snack has dominated the sales champion of various supermarkets for quite a long time, so the little raccoon was given the nickname "Mr. Instant Noodles".

Perhaps because he is too popular, or because they look a bit like each other, some people confuse this "Instant Noodle Man" with the red panda. The most famous example of this mistake is the movie "Kung Fu Panda". The master of the main character Po, the head of the Jade Palace, is called "Master Raccoon", but the official introduction clearly states that the prototype is a red panda.

Raccoons are animals that live in America. They are omnivorous, good at climbing trees, and have high IQs. They often wander around cities, rummaging through trash cans and stealing cat food. They are really troublemakers and are regarded as a thorn in the eyes of many North Americans. Raccoons have five fingers and toes on their front and back limbs, which can be separated, so they can catch shrimps and crabs in the water. They often use their front paws to hunt and eat, and they use their front paws almost as flexibly as monkeys. The strange thing is that when they catch these small animals, raccoons will wash off the dirt on these animals before eating them, and they always wash the food in water before eating other food, so they are named "raccoons".

Why do raccoons wash their food before eating it? Most people think that this is an instinctive habit of raccoons, just like dogs have the habit of burying food in the soil and shrikes have the habit of hanging small animals on the thorns of tree branches. These habits are inherited from generation to generation. Among the habits of animals, the change of eating habits is the fastest. Some people also think that this is because raccoons like to be clean. Raccoons have short heads and wide faces, round cheeks, a moon-shaped white spot, and white lips that look like they are wearing masks. They have shiny fur, brown-red backs, dark brown chests, abdomens and limbs, and nine yellow and white rings around their fluffy long tails, so local people call them "nine-section wolves". Raccoons like to live in woods near rivers, lakes or ponds, hiding in stone caves and tree holes during the day, and are active at dawn and dusk. The fur of raccoons is a mixture of gray, yellow, brown and other colors. There are black spots on their faces and a circle of black hair around their eyes, just like wearing a pair of sunglasses. They mate in the spring every year and give birth after four months of pregnancy. From birth to one year old, they change their "clothing" three times: white at first, dark gray after a week, and then gradually become the same as their parents. Raccoons are omnivorous animals, eating fish, frogs and small terrestrial animals, as well as wild fruits, nuts, seeds, acorns, etc. Raccoons often move around in trees and build their nests in trees. When being chased by black bears, they will escape to the treetops and hide. In winter, raccoons in the north have to hide in tree holes to hibernate. Raccoons often do things that people don't expect. They will climb along the downspouts of the building to the rooftop platform and spy on the feed buckets placed there; they will run to the kitchen to steal butter, even if the owner of the house is standing next to the sink 2 meters away from them.

Therefore, whether it is to protect the good memories of childhood or out of respect for red pandas, don't call red pandas "King Crispy Noodles" anymore! However, the matter of admitting mistakes is not over yet. In recent years, another little brother has joined the melee of "Who is the Crispy Noodles", and that is the raccoon dog. Many people may be confused when they hear this name: "What is this thing?" But if you change it to a word - raccoon cat, many people may have some impression. The word fox originally refers to two animals, "fox" and "raccoon", the latter refers to raccoon dogs. In some folk legends in East Asia, it is believed that raccoon dogs, like foxes, can cultivate into spirits and even become messengers of God, and will use magic to tease people on the night of the full moon. In the impression of humans, foxes are more charming and cunning, while raccoons are more cute. In the legend, although raccoons can use magic, they often shoot themselves in the foot, and the final ending makes people laugh and cry. The civet cat has a chubby appearance, and its face shape and appearance are somewhat similar to those of a raccoon or red panda. Most importantly, it also has a "little clown face", so it's no wonder that many people confuse them. So how do you tell them apart?

The red panda's fur is usually bright red or bright orange, with dark fur on the belly. No wonder it is called "Fire Fox" in addition to "red panda". Their faces are relatively round, with light white patterns on their faces, and most of the patterns are not continuous but independent. There are 5 to 6 light-colored rings on their tails. The red panda has "six fingers" on its palms, which are good at grasping, making it convenient for them to hold bamboo to eat.

The raccoon's fur is gray or dark gray, with a pointed face and a pattern on its face that looks like a Zorro's black mask on a nose mask, which extends all the way to the cheeks. There are usually more than 10 rings on the tail, and the five fingers of the front paws are separated and can grasp, more like a human hand.

The fur of the raccoon dog is brown-gray with black stripes, and the limbs are black. The face is a bit like a raccoon, and it is also more pointed. The English name of the raccoon dog is "raccoon dog". There is a circle of black pattern around the eyes, but there is no ring pattern on the raccoon dog's tail. In addition, the raccoon dog's front paws are not separated, which looks very similar to the paws of a puppy, and cannot grasp. These two points can be used to distinguish the raccoon dog from the raccoon dog.

All three animals belong to the order Carnivora, but in terms of kinship, the red panda is closer to the raccoon. Not long ago, the red panda belonged to the family Coatidae, but later research found that they were very different, so the red panda was separated into its own family, the Ailuridae. The raccoon dog belongs to the family Canidae, and the raccoon dog looks like a fat dog.

Since the red panda mainly feeds on bamboo, the number of premolars has not decreased, but the carnivore-specific carnassial teeth have almost lost their cutting function. The two pairs of molars on the upper and lower sides are short and wide, with bright and rough grinding surfaces on them to adapt to grinding hard bamboo fibers. In addition, it also has strong chewing muscles and corresponding bone structures, which increase its chewing power. The red panda's sense of smell, hearing and vision are not very good. In addition, it has a mild temperament and poor self-defense ability, so it is very vulnerable to natural enemies such as leopards, clouded leopards, jackals and yellow-throated martens. When encountering danger, it often screams "oh oh" loudly, and then escapes to the dense forest to hide. Only when it is extremely dangerous will it bite the opponent fiercely, or stand up and hit with its front paws. It moves slowly and clumsily on the ground, and does not run very fast. It is only very good at climbing trees. It can climb up to very high and thin branches in a short time, which often makes some beasts that can climb trees unable to do anything to it. There is a secretory gland near the anus of the red panda, which it often uses to rub against tree trunks, rocks and other protruding objects, leaving a special smell to attract the opposite sex or convey information. From June to July every year, the season in the high mountain environment is just late spring compared to the plains, with suitable temperature and humidity and abundant food, which is suitable for the red pandas living at high altitudes to reproduce.

Recent studies have found that the red panda is not one species, but two species: the Chinese red panda and the Himalayan red panda. 250,000 years ago, due to geographical barriers, the two species parted ways on the road of evolution and began to evolve independently. Due to the impact of many human activities such as population growth, urban development, increase in cultivated land, hunting, etc., the habitat of the red panda has been severely affected and extremely shrunk, which has caused a serious decline in the number of red panda populations. At the same time, red pandas are very susceptible to canine distemper, and the mortality rate after infection is extremely high. If the number of stray dogs in an area increases significantly, it will have a great impact on the red pandas in the same area. According to statistics, in the past 20 years, the number of red pandas in the world has dropped by 50%. At present, the total number of wild populations of the two red pandas in my country is about 3,000, while the total number of Himalayan red panda populations may be less than 500. Compared with the giant panda, which is loved by thousands of people, the survival status of the red panda is very worrying and is already on the verge of extinction: in 2015, the IUCN announced that the endangered level of the red panda was adjusted from "vulnerable" to "endangered".