Raccoon Dog (Tanuki): Looks Like a Raccoon, Belongs to the Dog Family

A dawn “mystery animal” with a mask-like face and teddy-bear fluff turns up on a farm and the internet screams raccoon. In reality it’s a raccoon dog—also known as tanuki or Nyctereutes procyonoides—a true canid related to foxes and dogs, not to raccoons. Its looks and lifestyle overlap with ci...