Raccoon, Procyon lotor

Physical Characteristics

Immediately identifiable by their black “masks”, raccoons are in many ways nature’s bandits. Their silver grey coat is spackled with black, making a great nighttime camouflage for this nocturnal omnivore. Raccoons vary greatly in size. They can range in weight from 4 lbs. to 20 lbs., though specimens weighing up to 40 lbs. are not unheard of. When including their long, banded tail they usually measure between 23 to 38 inches long.

Habitat & Diet

Raccoons live just about everywhere in North America. The only areas they avoid are wide-open spaces that don’t have easy access to climb trees or offer hollowed out enclosed places for shelter. In the wild, raccoons get a lot of their food from water-based sources, using their lightning quick front paws to snatch up frogs and small fish. On land, they will eat small vertebrates like mice and are happy to sniff out bird eggs when they are available. They have also become adept at living in urban environments, using their long, dexterous hands to get into garbage cans and anywhere else they might be able to scavenge human leftovers.

Social Behavior

Raccoons were once thought to be solitary animals, but are now known to be semi-social, often sharing a territory with a small number of other raccoons. They will not necessarily spend an ample amount of time with one another, but will meet at resting and feeding grounds without conflict. Their comfort with other raccoons is directly related to how plentiful food is, as well as whether or not it is mating season. During mating season males will be more confrontational with one another and far more protective of their territory.
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