Raccoon

Procyon lotor

Common Raccoon, Northern Raccoon, Trash Panda

Greek: dog-like

Powhatan: animal that scratches with its hands

Aztec: one who takes everything in its hands

The common raccoon is one of the most common mammals in North America. They’re common everywhere. Very common.

Raccoon Fun Facts

Their mask is probably for night vision.

Dark fur absorbs light and reduces glare, helping raccoons see better at night. Just like when athletes apply black under their eyes. It's not just to look tough and cool.

They're smart.

They learn from experience, adapt quickly,
and can demonstrate real problem solving ability.

They can be trained to dance and clap, and were once
used in lab testing alongside rats and monkeys - until researchers discovered they were too clever and
strong-willed to work with. They kept escaping.

Their paws are like hands.

Dexterous, highly sensitive, and equipped
with five long fingers. No thumbs, so they can’t grasp
the way humans do - but they can climb trees, open
shells, seeds, doorknobs, jars, and smelly
garbage cans without any problem.

They’re nocturnal,
opportunistic omnivores.

They sleep during the day and eat at night.
Just like your teenage cousin. Their menu includes invertebrates, vertebrates, plants...pretty much anything easy and available. Including birdseed, pet food,
dead-stinky-stuff and trash.

They don’t hibernate.

The further north a raccoon lives, the more it
chubs up for winter. It lives off that chub until spring.

Male raccoons are bachelors for life.

Male (boar) and female (sow) raccoons breed once a year. Then females rock the single mom life - providing all the food, shelter, lessons, and nurturing for their kits (not kids) without any help from dad.

They don’t mate for life or expect child support.

They’re sometimes trouble.

Besides raiding pet food, bird feeders, and
trash cans, they sometimes poop in pools.

They like to hide their poop in shallow water to avoid detection by predators - and the first few pool stairs are
perfect for poop stashing.

They can also be aggressive toward domestic pets and carry several canine diseases. But this is only a problem when easy food keeps them hanging around.

Securing trash, pet food, and not feeding them helps keep raccoons in the wild where they belong and helps prevent them from becoming disease ridden, foaming-at-the-mouth, clicker-like, rabid raccoons.

They can live nearly anywhere.

Forests, mountains, wetlands, parks, neighborhoods,
cities, your backyard. As long as there's food, water,
and somewhere to sleep, they'll be there. There might
be one in your attic right now.

Their population has grown
alongside ours.

Despite habitat loss, raccoons have adapted
remarkably well to urban life. Where many species
have struggled, raccoons thrive as clever survivalists
in an ever-changing human world.

Raccoons are only a nuisance when
we set them up to be.

As urban sprawl continues, so will coexisting with raccoons. Raccoon-proofing your trash cans, pools, home, and property keeps them independent - and wild.

Let's make raccoon-secure homes as common as the common raccoon!

References:

https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/raccoon-nation-raccoon-fact-sheet/7553/

https://www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Mammals/Raccoon

https://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/profiles/mammals/land/raccoon/

https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/UW033

https://www.floridiannature.com/Raccoons.htm

Special thanks to Jay Exum, Ph.D. Wildlife Ecology for his expert fact checking!

Raccoon

Procyon lotor Common Raccoon, Northern Raccoon, Trash Panda

Raccoon Fun Facts

​

Their paws are like hands. Dexterous, highly sensitive, and equipped with five long fingers. No thumbs, so they can’t grasp the way humans do - but they can climb trees, open shells, seeds, doorknobs, jars, and smelly garbage cans without any problem.

They’re nocturnal, opportunistic omnivores. They sleep during the day and eat at night. Just like your teenage cousin. Their menu includes invertebrates, vertebrates, plants...pretty much anything easy and available. Including birdseed, pet food, dead-stinky-stuff and trash.

They don’t hibernate. The further north a raccoon lives, the more it chubs up for winter. It lives off that chub until spring.

Male raccoons are bachelors for life. Male (boar) and female (sow) raccoons breed once a year. Then females rock the single mom life - providing all the food, shelter, lessons, and nurturing for their kits (not kids) without any help from dad. They don’t mate for life or expect child support.

They’re sometimes trouble. Besides raiding pet food, bird feeders, and trash cans, they sometimes poop in pools. They like to hide their poop in shallow water to avoid detection by predators - and the first few pool stairs are perfect for poop stashing.