Raccoon FAQ
Raccoon - Procyon lotor
Known mostly for their distinctive facial feature reminiscent of a "bandit's maskÓ, raccoons are a medium sized mammal native to North America. The average body length of a raccoon is anywhere from 16 to 28 inches with a bushy tail which can measure between 7 and 16 inches, and a body weight of 4 to 30 lb., varying with habitat. Their shoulder height is usually between 9 and 12 inches. Males are usually 15 to 20% heavier than the females, and at the beginning of winter, they can weight twice as much as in spring due to fat storage.
Raccoons are usually nocturnal, though they can sometimes be seen active in daylight if a food source is available. Being omnivores, their diet consists of a variety of things, ranging from fruit and nuts, to fish, amphibians, and insects.
A raccoons habitat is usually dependent on having vertical structures to climb when they feel threatened, so will mostly consist of wooded areas, and tend to avoid open terrain. Tree hollows, old oaks, and rock crevices are preferred for sleeping and litter dens. Due to the raccoons adaptability, they are able to use urban areas as a habitat. The home range of urban raccoons are small, ranging from 0.1 mi. to 0.31miles. Fruits and insects in gardens and leftovers in municipal waste are easily available food sources, and garden trees, garages, abandoned houses and attics function as viable sleeping areas.
Previously thought to be solitary animals, evidence has shown that raccoons engage in gender-specific social behaviors. Females often share a common area, and males may live together in small groups to maintain an area against foreign males during mating season, and against other potential invaders. These groups usually contain no more than 4 individuals.
After a gestation period of about 65 days, two to five babies, or "kits, are born in the spring, and raised by the mother until late fall. The average life expectancy in the wild is only 1.8 to 3 years, though some captive raccoons have been known to live up to and sometimes over 20 years.
A raccoon's most important sense is their sense of touch, and are able to stand on their hind legs to examine objects with its front paws, though a raccoons paws lack opposable thumbs. Raccoons are able to see well at night, however have poor long-distance vision, and as a result, hunting and traffic accidents are the two most common causes of death.
Raccoons are intelligent mammals, and studies have concluded that they are able to understand abstract mechanisms such as a complex lock, and can remember solutions to tasks for up to three years. Their learning speed is equivalent to the rhesus macaques, more commonly known as the rhesus monkey.
Many raccoons may carry rabies, a lethal disease that is carried in the saliva and transmitted by bites. Raccoons should not be approached or handled except by professionals.
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