Nature: Raccoon Nation Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

Nature: Raccoon Nation Blu-ray Movie Review

The furry shall inherit the Earth

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf March 26, 2012

At the Minnesota Zoo, there’s an exhibit devoted to observing the behaviors of local raccoons. While other animals inside the grounds are afforded at least an approximation of their native habitat, the raccoons here have been set free inside a replica of a farmhouse, allowing the critters to forage to their heart’s content. Initially, this glimpse into raccoon life appeared almost offensive in a way, handing the creatures a stomping ground that reinforces their disruptive need to scavenge around vulnerable homes under the cover of darkness. The “Nature” program “Raccoon Nation” essentially reinforces the accuracy of the Minnesota Zoo display, embarking on a study of an animal that’s evolving into a not-so-lean, quite mean urban exploring machine. While the show takes a careful position of science to investigate the furry invasion, it’s clear the onslaught of raccoons into major metropolitan areas is a cause of great concern for the health and wellbeing of humans. They may look somewhat adorable and approachable, but the raccoon is a troubling creature gradually learning to survive anywhere it dares to roam.

While raccoons have created a home for themselves in major cities across the world, Toronto has been hit the hardest, watching population numbers soar in recent years, with the city overwhelmed by the tiny intruders. For wildlife biologist Stan Gehrt, the battle to understand this growth has required radical means of study, embarking on a mission to tag the animals with fellow biologists Marc Dupis-Desormeaux and Suzanne MacDonald, armed with marshmallows and steel cages, heading out into the wild to trap a few select specimens. Placing a hi-tech radio collar around the necks of the raccoons, the professionals are seizing amazing access into the habits and hunting ground of their subjects, granted the opportunity to analyze exactly where the raccoons go when the sun goes down and the streets become a network of activity. This type of examination has never been attempted before, finally addressing the complexity of this creature and its seemingly ubiquitous appearance. Tagged and released, the raccoons tear off into the night, unknowingly revealing their secrets to humans tasked with comprehending behavioral patterns and halting the ease of access to plentiful feeding resources.

“Raccoon Nation” provides a fundamental understanding of the titular creatures, focusing mainly on their incredible ability to forage anywhere for food. It turns out the eyes of a raccoon are only a small sensorial element when the critters take on their evening hunt, leaving the front paws and their extraordinary sensitivity to do much of the investigation when rummaging for food, requiring a routine of cleansing in water sources to preserve the tenderness of such front-line feelers. Also revealing are the raccoon’s amazing adaptive abilities, growing bolder in urban areas as it looks to establish up to 20 dens for ease of escape, utilizing spine-collapsing gifts to slip into attics, garages, and just about anywhere that could provide a safe, quiet home away from the interest of predators. “Raccoon Nation” studies the raising of young kits, who follow their attentive mother everywhere to acquire an understanding of this terrifying new world and its strange physics. Flopping around, testing their limitations, the babies showcase unsettling ease with infiltration, studying their committed guardian’s skills to be a better scavenger. In fact, an entire chunk of the program is devoted to observing a mother and her young work diligently to slip inside a garage, with a few of the brood unable to get the hang of such a challenge. Facing the terror of sunrise and exposure to predators, the parent is forced to make some hasty, potentially devastating decisions as time runs out.

It’s not only Canada that’s facing an infestation of raccoons, but Japan as well. Widely imported after the popularity of the cartoon program “Rascal the Raccoon,” the creatures have overtaken rural areas of Japan now with the thrill of pet ownership burned off in full (not to mention the threat of animal bites and scratches contributing to the mass elimination). Hardest hit are the country’s religious temples, huge structures of wood hit with raccoon destruction through gnawing and waste disposal, two habits which have decimated buildings that once stood untouched for centuries. Japan doesn’t know what to do with the infestation, with individuals like mammalogist Dr. Mieko Kawamichi forced to orchestrate a widespread plan of slaughter (over 10,000 raccoons per year) to help keep the numbers down. It’s an ugly business, and Kawamichi doesn’t seem proud of her work, but the effort is necessary to keep Japan from being overrun by the masked menace. Germany has also struggled with a raccoon surge, convincing engineers like Frank Beeker to dream up elaborate defense designs to prevent home invasions, targeting drainpipes as the main cause of concern. The raccoons eventually figure out a way around the setbacks, leading to a tug of war of sorts between man and pest.

Nature: Raccoon Nation Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (1.78:1 aspect ratio) presentation on "Raccoon Nation" displays occasional banding issues, while shadow detail is mostly solidified during evening events, making animal particulars difficult to spot in the darkness. Detail is reasonable if never quite tremendous, displaying HD life when getting in close to the program's stars, finding satisfactory textures with fur and domestic dens. Colors are reasonably well cared for, offering a distinct mix of blacks and grays for the raccoon excursions, while exteriors maintain green lawns and forests. There's an extended use of "night vision" during the program, washing everything away in a garish red, but the intent of the visual effect is clear. Skintones on interviewees are healthy and pink.

Nature: Raccoon Nation Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 5.1 Dolby Digital sound mix isn't a terribly forceful sonic affair, more concentrated on narration duties from Nora Young, who sounds crisp and weighty during the documentary. Atmospherics are convincing but rarely overpowering, finding a delicate ambiance of street life and chirpy animal communication to feed into the surrounds. Songs and scoring provide a nice lift to the track, with strong instrumentation and clean vocals, holding primarily frontal to accentuate the shenanigans. The mix supports the show in full without any broad displays of dimension.

Nature: Raccoon Nation Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

There is no supplementary material on this disc.

Nature: Raccoon Nation Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

"Raccoon Nation" concludes on a rather stark note, emphasizing the creature's skill at acclimatization, paralleling humans in terms of junk food consumption and apathy, finding the critters reaching a critical point in their development where future generations just might be completely unstoppable, running rampant in the night and day. It's a scary thought, and an uncomfortable note of doom slapped on the end of a deceptively jaunty program that employs upbeat Dixieland jazz music to accompany raccoon shenanigans. Despite a jarring shift in tone, "Raccoon Nation" sufficiently encapsulates the existence of its subject, supplying a deeper understanding of development and experience, successfully educating the masses on the dangers of raccoons while underlining their idiosyncratic methods of consumption and future efforts of assimilation.