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Raccoons are agile climbers. They can come down a tree either head or tail first. |
Where at the Zoo Animal Bites Conservation Status
Habitat Taxonomic Category Where in the World
Raccoon Procyon lotor Curious, clever, nimble and adaptable, raccoons eat just about anything. They find more snacks around people than they do in the woods. As a result, as many as 170 may live in each square mile of neighborhood—more than in natural habitats. What They Eat Where They Live What They Do How They’re Doing Click on an image to enlarge. 
Where at the Zoo Animal Bites Conservation Status
Habitat Taxonomic Category Where in the World
Raccoon
Raccoon pelts have been harvested since colonial times, and were a popular fur during the 1920s. Raccoon pelts may still be sold as imitation mink, otter, or seal fur. Raccoons are also hunted for their meat in some areas. Raccoons use their nimble fingers to open trash can covers, coolers, latches and even doors to get at food or shelter. It's easy to identify raccoon tracks because the raccoon’s front paws have five toes that resemble small human hands.
Raccoon
Raccoons have extremely sensitive forepaws that they use to identify food. Zookeepers give them enrichment objects that stimulate all of their senses, but particularly their sense of touch. Both natural and manmade items with a variety of textures give the raccoons something to manipulate. Examples include shredded paper, dried leaves, feathers, snow and woodchips. Puzzle feeders stimulate the raccoons’ cognitive abilities, too. Food enrichment items provide variety and some are also interesting to touch, like hardboiled eggs, fresh corn and live fish to catch from the stream. Raccoon
Range and Habitat Raccoons can be found in Canada, the United States, Mexico, and Central America. Historically they were found in habitats near bodies of water, from marshes to woodlands. Today they have adapted quite well to human environments, too, both rural and urban. Habits and Adaptations The second part of the raccoon’s Latin name, “lotor,” means “to wash.” Raccoons are known to dunk their food in water before eating, which led to the mistaken belief that they washed their food prior to consuming it. The raccoon’s forepaws are so sensitive and agile that they are called hands. Their long fingers are great at prying things open, including trash can lids. Raccoons also have an excellent sense of smell that they use to help locate food. They are primarily nocturnal. Diet In the absence of human food, raccoons eat fish, small frogs, crabs, crayfish, bird eggs, and anything they can scavenge from. Human environments provide many other dining opportunities for these generalists. Reproduction Raccoons are solitary for most of their lives, but join up in the spring to mate. Most mating takes place in February or March and is followed by a gestation that lasts, on average, 63 days. It is not unusual for siblings of the same litter to have different fathers. Each litter typically has 3 or 4 young which may stay with their mother through their first winter. Threats Raccoon skins have long been popular with hunters and trappers. Hunting took a heavy toll on raccoons and their numbers were fairly low in the 1920s and 30s. Hunting continued as they moved into residential areas, but by then their numbers had rebounded so successfully that the largest harvests in 1979 and 1980 made little impact on their total population. Raccoons fall victim to vehicles, wolves, pumas, and occasionally coyotes. |
