Lots of young trappers cut their teeth trapping muskrats. I did as a new young trapper back in the early 70's. Raccoons were big game to a young trapper. A little harder to trap, at least to a kid, and requiring a little more knowledge and a bit more equipment. When I started catching coon on a regular basis I felt I had arrived as a trapper. Of course from raccoon I graduated to fox, coyote, bobcat, beaver and otter. So to me back then, and to a host of young trappers today, raccoons do serve as a benchmark or a measure of one's growth as a trapper.
Looking back from this side of a long life of trapping, raccoons might not seem like that much of a benchmark. But remembering those times from the other side, back when I was yet to catch my first they seemed like a tremendous prize. I'm sure to a new 11 or 12 year old trapper just starting out, they still are.
