I wish I had a picture to share, but my camera wasn't nearby....Early this morning I saw 2 animals walking in my rural backyard near the pond. Their shapes and sizes were very like raccoons, but they were black. The only markings I could observe were small white areas on the faces. There were definitely not white back stripes. Unfortunately, I didn't get a good look at the tails.
What do you think they were?
looked like raccoon but was black
http://blogs.kansascity.com/photos/uncategorized/cute_little_pet_raccoon_2003_kentucky.jpg
It could have been a darker colored family, like the one in the above pic. They seem to have a broad range of coloring.
Over the years I have gotten many raccoons to rehabilitate in a wide range of colors. A pale golden coon usually comes from an area where there is lots of sand and light ground. Coons from the deep woods or swamps tend to be much darker. I have had one or two that were nearly black with faint markings. Once I got some babies in that I thought were totally black, but discovered that they had been born in a chimney and were black with soot!