Robert Bateman (Prints)

Prowler – Raccoon (Print)

Artist's page

Offset Paper Affordable Treasure; Edition Size 950
12" x 12" / 30.48cm x 30.48cm
Unframed (US Dollar): $85.00

To purchase this, or any other work of art, please contact us by phone or email.

The Prowler- Raccoon
“Raccoons prowl. Like the human prowler, they invade people’s private spaces. Of course, raccoons do not recognize private property. Your world is their world. Urban Areas of North American are bountiful foraging grounds from the raccoon’s point of view. My birth-place, the city of Toronto, has a huge raccoon population, but when I was a boy, they were relatively scarce animals. A sighting of this furry beast was somewhat special.
In those days, I did what I now know is not a good idea: I kept some wild “pets”- one crow, 2 screech owls and one raccoon. We too the raccoon from his nest before his eyes were open and fed him from a doll’s bottle, then pabulum and finally human food, plus dog food and the odd frog or crayfish. He semi-hibernated during his first (and, sadly, only) winter, and in the spring, he escaped his cage. He found his way to some big trees in a backyard across the ravine behind my house. The woman of the house thought it was such a remarkable event that she phoned the radio station, and they actually put the raccoon discovery on the evening news. She also phoned the Humane Society, and they came and captured him. We got word of this and went there to claim him. Unfortunately, he had caught distemper there and passed away in May, barely a year old.
This painting shows another prowler around another dwelling. At our present home we have two apple trees and a luxuriant grape-vine. Every harvest season, when we plan to let the fruits ripen for another few days, the raccoons beat us to it. The raccoons have a different opinion.”