Japanese Raccoon Dog Attempts to Uncover Entrance of Winter Den Buried under Deep Snow in Mid Winter

A Japanese raccoon dog (Nyctereutes viverrinus, family Canidae) came to their overwintering den site, which was formerly the sett of Japanese badgers, in the defoliated secondary forest. The Japanese raccoon dog sniffed at the open entrance but didn’t enter inside. And then it moved on to the second entrance which had been completely buried under deep snow. The Japanese raccoon dog began to dig up the stuffed snow with its paws. But eventually, it gave up and left. Captured from two angles with my new trailcams in the middle of snowy night (around 2:05 AM) of early-January 2025 in Japan. It was snowy and -1 degree Celsius. For a full story (text in Japanese); https://sigma-nature-vlog.blogspot.com/2026/03/blog-post_25.html