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Do Raccoons Travel In Packs?

February 9, 2020 by Marcus Mueller

Do Raccoons Truly Live by Themselves?

What is the size of these groups, i think i have raccoons in my home. how bad can it get, call skedaddle for raccoon removal in milwaukee.

Assess and Remove. Our technicians identify the number of raccoons and assess the degree of the problem. We analyze the risk of rabies (hard for an untrained eye) and humanely and strategically remove all mothers, babies and males. The mothers and babies are reunited in a heated baby box, far from your home.
Clear and Clean Any Mess. We handle professional removal of raccoon feces and contamination (roundworm).
Prevent and Protect. We identify entry points and permanently block raccoons from entering your home. We can install heavy-gauge screening at all potential entry points and advise and consult for insulation repair and attic restoration.

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About the author: Marcus is the owner and operator of Skedaddle Humane Wildlife Control – Milwaukee. Born and raised in Milwaukee, Marcus combines the academic training (M.S. Wildlife Biology, UW Madison) with the field training and skills to be successful in resolving wildlife conflict for home and business owners. Part of this field experience was working as an intern at a local wildlife rehabilitation center where Marcus interacted with Milwaukee residents experiencing conflict with wildlife on a daily basis. These interactions pushed Marcus to bring these needed services to Milwaukee and officially launch Skedaddle Humane Wildlife Control – Milwaukee!

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Are Raccoons More Like Dogs or Cats?

My wife and I left the city of Seattle and moved into a small suburb. Not too long ago, a family of trash pandas raccoons walked across our backyard deck, like they owned the place. (See photo.)

This got me thinking. Are raccoons more like dogs or cats? They certainly exhibit both kinds of behaviors. On the one hand, like dogs, they live in packs. But not always. Raccoons, especially males, go through a phase when they live alone , just like most cats. Other research has shown that raccoons form sex-specific groups . That's right; raccoons have "boys only" and "girls only" clubs.

Raccoons are extremely intelligent, which (sorry cat lovers) makes them a bit more like dogs. ( Dogs have twice as many neurons in their cerebral cortices than cats, the parts of the brain associated with higher level thinking.) Raccoons are omnivores, and though dogs are technically carnivores, they'll eat just about anything you give them. Cats, on the other hand, are picky eaters.

So, that settles it. Raccoons are like dogs? Well, sort of. The term "trash panda" really is accurate; raccoons are most similar to bears.

Raccoons and Bears Share a Common Ancestor

Along with dogs and cats, raccoons are part of the order Carnivora . However, an evolutionary tree shows that they are most closely related to bears, sharing a more recent common ancestor with these burly beasts than with either of our domesticated friends.

Source : GWU

Notice that the evolutionary tree splits earliest between cat-like species ("Feliformia") and dog-like species ("Caniformia"). So, the dog-cat division happened early in carnivore evolution. Raccoons arose within the Caniformia suborder. So, technically, the answer to our question is that raccoons are more "like dogs." But there's more to the story.

As evolution progressed, the ancestors of modern-day dogs and the ancestors of modern-day raccoons went their separate ways. Then, about 40 million years ago, the tree split again, with raccoon-like animals going one way and bear-like animals going another. ( Here is a tree depicting the evolution of just bears and raccoons.)

There's a Bear in the Woods

As it so happens, a few days after we bought our new house, a black bear wandered through our yard. (It climbed over our fence and its sizable rear end bent it.) Little did we know that the raccoon family that made an appearance a few months later were cousins. Distant cousins, but cousins nonetheless.

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Do Raccoons Travel in Packs?

Raccoons are nocturnal animals that are mostly seen by themselves wandering urban areas tipping garbage cans to find their next meal. However, people have often wondered if raccoons live in groups or packs like wolves do?

Considering the raccoon’s short lifespan of about three years, it is unlikely that raccoons will develop a lasting bond with their family or pack. Usually, they are seen by themselves during the day and only come together to mate before splitting up again for good.

However, there have been instances of raccoons traveling in groups. In these cases, it is unlikely that they will be together for long as well since there are no young to protect and the mating season has ended. Let us explore the raccoon’s social habits and whether or not they travel in packs.

Social Habits: Male Raccoons vs Female Raccoons

Male and female raccoons have differing social habits. Female raccoons are more gregarious than males, which is why they live in larger groups, especially during the rearing season. Related females form tight-knit groups of up to 12 raccoons and these family units will stay together year-round and work together to raise their young.

Male raccoons can either form a loose group of four or solitary depending on the situation and population densities in the area. Raccoons like to stick together in a group during winter or when breeding season comes around. This is to protect themselves from other raccoons that might try to fight them for a chance with the females. Male groups however are not as tight-knit as female groups and tend to break apart from each other more frequently.

Do Raccoons Live Alone?

Raccoons are thought of as mostly solitary animals, coming together only for mating purposes and to raise their young. However, they do live in small groups with other raccoons; these are called a gaze or nursery. Raccoon families tend to be found anywhere between two and eight or more individuals.

Males will usually establish a home range, marking it with bodily secretions, and often overlapping with another male’s territory. Females also protect an established territory, but this may overlap with her mother’s as well as that of any future mates she chooses to have. The size of these territories can vary greatly depending on food availability within the region where she lives.

Do Raccoons Hunt or Travel in Packs?

Raccoons do not generally hunt as a pack like wolves for example; the majority of adult males tend to be solitary foragers and only travel with other members of their species when it is necessary for survival. And that is what raccoons do during winter months, when the weather is cold and food is scarce they will form groups of four and forage together in small packs to find easier sources of food. The smaller groups make hunting much more efficient and the raccoons will usually target prey species that are abundant and easy to catch such as fish, frogs, or turtles.

Raccoons are known to travel with other members of their species during mating seasons. During this period they will usually team up together and fight off any other males that are trying to claim territory or a female that’s ready to mate! or if they are defending themselves against hungry predators that want to eat them (such as coyotes and wolves).

Raccoon Families

Raccoon families usually consist of a mother raccoon, its kits (baby raccoons) who stay with her for about 8 to 12 months but sometimes longer depending on the climate conditions. When a female raccoon is caring for her young, she may allow them to stay with her until they mature which can be up to one year old. Once they reach maturity though, it is time for them all to go out on their own.

The typical size of a raccoon family group is between three to ten individuals with around four being average, although larger families have been reported. The males do not actually join the female’s nursery after they breed. It is the female that cares for and raises their young. The males will either leave or stay solitary throughout this time period.

How Many Raccoons Live Together?

Females form larger groups while male raccoons tend to stick together in smaller groups. If you are seeing more than one raccoon at a time then there is probably only one explanation for this behavior: breeding season! Raccoons are more social during this season and will often spend time with members of their own species to ensure survival. If you ever see raccoons that are not acting aggressively towards each other then they might be related, but it is also possible the two animals are mother and child or siblings.

Female raccoon packs can sometimes get quite big especially if more than one female shares territory with each other during the breeding season. Young raccoons would usually stay with their mom until it is ready to leave the nest and go off on their own and start mating.

Do Raccoons Live in Packs?

Mother raccoons are known to live in family groups especially when they have young children. These are matriarchal groups where the females take turns caring for the young. The only time males join these groups is during the mating season or if they are young enough to still need their mother by their side as protection (they stay with the family until they become mature).

Males on the other hand tend to form smaller packs that consist of up to four raccoons. These may be seen together throughout most months but usually scatter at dawn and dusk when hunting or meeting potential mates. Raccoon families gather mostly after dark even though some members might hunt separately.

Do Raccoons Travel in Pairs?

Female and male raccoon pairs usually only last while the female is nursing her young; however, some of these animals can live together year-round until the mating season rolls around again. They tend to be quite territorial and could display aggressive behavior as unrelated males often kill the young ones of other families in order to increase their own chance of mating.

How Far Do They Travel?

Raccoons usually do not go far from their home range and will stay in a certain territory when they are scavenging, although they can sometimes move up to 10 miles in search of food or mate. Most raccoons will travel within the same area, but they may also roam when breeding season comes.

Raccoon Families in Homes

If you see a raccoon in your home or yard, chances are that there are more nearby. Female raccoons in gestation often find their way in attics of homes where they will deliver and rear their young kits. Mother raccoons usually only travel alone when they’re scavenging or making their way back to a den that’s further away from where you spotted them initially. If you see one raccoon, the best thing to do is leave it be and check your property thoroughly afterward because if there was one on your property then chances are there will be others too!

Problems Caused by Raccoon in Homes

A mother raccoon raising her young in your home is dangerous for your family and pets. If you find a nursing female, she will be quite protective of her babies and may attack anyone nearby. Their feces also carry several diseases that can make humans sick.

Raccoons in Homes: Prevention and Removal

One way to prevent a raccoon from coming back is by sealing off entry points like vents, holes, loose roof shingles, or broken pipes on your house. You can also use repellents that are specially designed for these animals but only after you have checked if there are any babies present inside first!

A professional should be called immediately when you spot one of these mammals because they know exactly how to handle it without causing harm to the raccoon. When dealing with baby raccoons always keep an eye out for the mother too as she may return looking for her young at any time!

Raccoon Removal

Raccoon removal from homes is a complex and tedious process that involves using humane cage traps and releasing the animals as far from your home as possible. This process requires a qualified and experienced trapper who knows how to operate the traps and remove animals safely and humanely.

Raccoon removal should only be handled by professionals because these animals can carry diseases like raccoon rabies and roundworm which can be transmitted to humans if they are bitten or scratched. Raccoon feces can also carry parasites which is another reason why you should never try trapping these animals yourself!

Need Professional Raccoon Removal?

If you have a raccoon in your home, call the professionals at AAAC Wildlife Removal . We will find out where the animal is living and remove it efficiently without harming it. Contact us now for more information about our services and how we handle wildlife problems safely every time!

Originally published on https://aaacwildliferemoval.com/blog/raccoons/do-raccoons-travel-in-packs

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How To Keep Raccoons Away, According To An Expert

Here’s how to keep raccoons away from your home and garden.

Understanding Raccoon Behavior

Signs of raccoon activity, creating a raccoon-proof environment.

Getty Images / Diane Jackson

With their prominent “bandit” masks, furry ringed tails, and stout bodies with a waddling walk, raccoons are easy to spot. These mammals are found across North America, residing in every kind of habitat from hardwood forests to coastal plains to swamps. Unlike some wildlife species, raccoons ( Procyon lotor ) thrive even in urban areas.

One reason for their success is because raccoons are clever and adaptable. “Raccoons are excellent climbers and can grasp and manipulate objects with their feet,” says Sheldon Owen, PhD, wildlife extension specialist at West Virginia University . “But they can be destructive. If a raccoon finds a one-inch crack in siding, for example, it will dig, chew, and figure out how to pull off boards to expand the hole for a new den.”

Sheldon Owen, PhD, is a wildlife extension specialist at West Virginia University .

Raccoons are opportunistic feeders , chowing down on whatever’s readily available. While they’re mostly nocturnal, it’s not unusual to see them out foraging during the day, says Owen. They eat plant and animal matter including acorns, seeds, fish, frogs, crayfish, eggs and young birds, insects, berries, and occasionally, carrion. They’re also notorious for digging through garbage cans, raiding chicken coops, and ripping apart vegetable gardens. They’re geniuses at exploiting new food sources and will teach their tricks to their babies.

While raccoons are fascinating creatures to observe (when they’re not tearing things up), you don’t want them close to or inside your home because they can carry fleas, ticks, and lice and several serious diseases and parasites. “They’re a common carrier of rabies ,” says Owen. They also may transmit canine distemper , which can affect unvaccinated dogs and wild canids, as well as ferrets, weasels, and skunks.

When nesting under your porch or deck or in a crawlspace, chimney, or attic, raccoon waste will accumulate and cause odors. In addition, raccoon feces may contain Baylisascaris roundworm eggs , which can infect humans and lead to nerve damage or blindness. Kids often are more likely to become infected because they play on the ground and may put hands in their mouths.

Why Do Raccoons Wash Their Food?

Raccoons often are seen rinsing off their food, or dipping it into water before eating, if they’re near a water source. While it seems like these animals are “washing” their food, it’s actually thought that water helps make their paws more sensitive to what they are feeling, says Owen.

This may help raccoons more easily identify edible and non-edible objects, especially when foraging in streams. However, washing isn’t mandatory, and a raccoon still will dine if there’s no water nearby. It’s just another way these clever creatures have adapted to every environment they inhabit.

Read on to tell if you have a raccoon problem and how to keep them away:

If you find your trash can upended and garbage strewn everywhere, there’s a good chance a raccoon is to blame, says Owen. You also may see their tracks , which have long, slender toes and claw marks with foreprints about 3 inches long and hindprints that are 3 to 4 inches long.

You may see raccoons coming and going, or you may hear them whining or growling when they’re living in spaces such as your chimney or attic. Or you may notice nesting materials blocking chimneys, under your deck, or in other sheltered areas on your property such as a shed.

Prevention Methods

There are no effective repellents or devices that frighten away raccoons. “When they learn there’s no real threat and there’s still food available, raccoons ignore these methods,” says Owen.

Removing potential food sources and excluding raccoons from an area are the most effective means of keeping them away from your home. If they’re not causing damage and are keeping their distance, it’s fine to leave them be. But if they are too close for comfort, you can make your yard less appealing to them, with these tips:

Seal openings . “Raccoons use multiple dens throughout the year, so look for holes in and around your home, shed, or crawlspace that could be enlarged to provide access to a warm, safe spot for a new den,” says Owen.
Cut back limbs that touch the house , which makes entry to your attic too easy.
Install chimney caps.
Don’t leave pet food bowls outside . That’s a sure way to invite not only raccoons but other unwanted guests such as mice , opossums , and skunks .
Keep poultry indoors at night , and seal any gaps. Raccoons can reach through and pull chickens out through holes.
Remove birdfeeders if you suspect a racoon is raiding them .
Keep trash in cans with lockable lids, or use a bin with a lockable lid . “Raccoons are stronger than you think and dexterous enough to work bungee cords off a can lid,” says Owen.

Keep your pet’s vaccines and worming medications up-to-date since they can be exposed to rabies, canine distemper and other parasites from raccoons and their waste.

Professional Assistance

For persistent raccoons or a mom and babies denning in your home, you may need to hire a nuisance wildlife specialist for removal , says Owen. Expert help is recommended because a mom, if cornered, likely will defend her offspring. You also don’t want to leave babies behind accidentally because they will die inside your home if you remove the mother.

Remember that raccoons can transmit rabies to people and pets and distemper to unvaccinated pets , so they should never be handled alive (or deceased). If you find a raccoon that is acting disoriented, lethargic, or aggressive, or is stumbling or curling up and sleeping in exposed areas near your home, contact your state’s wildlife department .

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Raccoons: A League of Their Own

As urban raccoon populations grow, biologists are discovering these masked carnivores lead surprising lives

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Raccoons Prepare for Winter

Almost every time I checked the game camera last summer – whether it was stationed near the compost, pointed into the field, or hidden at the edge of the woods – I found photos of one of our region’s most outwardly endearing creatures: the raccoon. With their black masks under perfect white eyebrows, their petite black noses, fuzzy ears, and fetchingly striped bushy tails, raccoons are certainly charming to look at. But that soft and cuddly exterior belies a fierce and highly intelligent disposition.

If curiosity killed the cat, it’s put more than one raccoon into a bind, too. When I was a little girl, a raccoon at a wildlife sanctuary reached long fingers from its enclosure and snagged the beaded hair tie right off the end of my braid. Among the things raccoons are curious about, apparently, is items that sparkle in the sun. Clever trappers have been known to catch a raccoon with a scrap of shiny aluminum foil as bait.

That inherent – and sometimes dangerous – curiosity is a sign of intelligence, said Dave Erler, senior naturalist at Squam Lakes Natural Science Center in Holderness, New Hampshire. This intelligence makes raccoons adept problem-solvers, and enables them to adapt to different habitats and food sources. They live just about anywhere they can find water, from forested areas and wetlands to agricultural landscapes and urban neighborhoods, where these nocturnal animals often get into trouble for raiding the chicken coop – or the trashcans left at the curb.

They will eat just about anything. Birds, eggs, small mammals, crayfish, fruit, carrion, and – yes – human garbage, gardens, and poultry are all on the menu. Although raccoons are known for “washing” their food, they’re really using their front paws to search for, examine, and dissect food before eating. They have highly developed nerves in their front paws, which become more sensitive when immersed in water.

The perceived washing habit plays into both the raccoon’s scientific and common names. “Raccoon” is from an Algonquin word “aroughcoune,” meaning “one who scratches with his hands.” The raccoon’s scientific name, Procyon lotor , breaks down to “dog-like” (although raccoons are scientifically more closely related to bears) and “washer.”

Beyond helping raccoons examine food and unlatch chicken coops and trashcans, their sensitive feet, with five long digits and sharp claws, also come in handy for climbing trees. Their modified ankle joints can turn out 180 degrees, allowing the animals to scamper down trees frontwards or backwards. Raccoons will climb and swim in streams while searching for food, but these skills also come in handy when they’re trying to evade danger.

“They are only average in their [swimming] ability,” said Erler. “But they will take readily to water if pursued and are very capable of drowning pursuers like dogs…by grabbing and holding the pursuer’s head under water.”

Now, as the days grow colder and darker, raccoons – like many wild animals – are busy eating as much as they can find and building up an extra layer of fat. Although they don’t hibernate, raccoons do hole up in dens during the bitterest days of winter and are able to sleep for long stretches of time – up to a month – without heading out into the elements. The extra layer of fat they add during the fall – about one-third of their total weight – helps provide insulation, along with a heavy coat of coarse fur. Raccoons, though typically solitary creatures, will sometimes den in groups during very cold weather.

Dens range from tree cavities and underground burrows to abandoned buildings and, sometimes, unused chimneys. And raccoons are not above kicking some other animal out of its warm den to take over.

“Raccoons are extremely powerful animals for their size (15-35 pounds), but are still able to squeeze into and through small openings. They are capable of displacing skunks and foxes from their dens if the situation warrants,” Erler said. “They’re smart enough to stay clear of larger predators as much as possible and avoid denning where they would be exposed to larger predators like coyotes.”

Cute and clever? Troublesome bandit? Whatever your perception of these curious critters, raccoons are so common throughout the region that chances are, they’re among your wild neighbors. I’ll be looking for their tracks through the snow around the forests and fields during warmer days this winter – and checking the game camera for glimpses of masked faces and ringed tails.

by Meghan McCarthy McPhaul

Meghan McCarthy McPhaul is an author and freelance writer. She lives in Franconia, New Hampshire.

Discussion *

“ Feb 06, 2023 Please don’t feed wild racoons! It artificially increases the carrying capacity of developed areas so that their populations become more concentrated, leading to expedited outbreaks of disease, especially rabies. We don’t have the forests any more to support higher populations, and its honestly unfair to the animals to provide a food source but no place to live. Never feed wild animals. Margaret Williams

“ Mar 13, 2022 When I was a child and we lived in the country, we would look after the raccoon orphans when their mothers were sometimes killed. Not all our neighbours liked raccoons. The babies who we bottle-fed until they got old enough to eat animal food made excellent pets, but would return to the wild when they hit puberty. Much bigger than their wild raccoon neighbours, they had good lives and one even came back to introduce her babies, then left again. They all got along well with our cat and dog. The only catch was that you had to wear welders gloves to play with them - their jaws as they got older could easily take off fingers. They are loving and very intelligent, and they purr like cats. Anyone walking in the woods in the evening has probably heard raccoons purring. Clare

“ Oct 06, 2021 I love the raccoons, they are beautiful little scavengers. Shelia Mcgaha

“ Nov 26, 2019 I have been feeding a mamma raccoon and 3 kits. She lost one. My neighbor has kids and told me to stop or they will call an exterminator. It is November and I still want to feed them but my hands seem to be tied. Any suggestions. Sally Williams

“ Aug 10, 2019 I rescued a baby. I’m trying to introduce her to the wild. I want to be prepared for winter for her just in case. She’s just started living outside full time. I do put food out for her Any suggestions? Karen

“ Jan 21, 2019 Once it falls below freezing, I keep a 1.5 gallon Dutch oven which I fill with HOT water; I call it our raccoon hot tub! Youngsters and adults adore the hottub—One Baby fit nose to butt was so excited it began chasing its tail, running in circles for minutes! Question: bathing in water in freezing winter, do they get frostbite? If not, why not? RobBob

“ Nov 24, 2018 I have two fireplaces and I have raccoons inside my smoke chamber and they have babies how do I get rid of them without killing them Bill soto

“ Dec 19, 2017 We currently have added a beautiful boy cat to our family. Our outdoor raccoon family raised him for four months. Cleaned him, fed him, played with him, watched over him. The night we trapped him was the only time I was ever afraid of them. They tried to free Finn. They were trying to rip the doors and windows off. It was heartbreaking. Especially because Gonn stayed with them when they we’re repeatedly trapped . He wouldn’t leave them until they were set free. Our Vet was not sure Finn could be socialized but he is a kind, loving,gentle boy. Brought up by a mother that had one baby, then a month later she brought her runt out, then she adopted two abandoned or orphaned raccoon kittens…she had four babies and then took Finn in too. The babies are gone. Mama is having more babies and Finn is the most wonderful kitten! He has brought love, laughter and belonging to our family of animals, our children and grandchildren. My raccoon do not eat any meat -won’t touch it. But they like boiled eggs and dog food. Some respect, some territory and space to be free and a little help when it’s cold outside or a drought. They like to play games but do not like heavy energy. Help each other out on our journeys…that’s all it takes. They do no damage here, don’t dig in the garbage and just need some trees left up that are a decent size. Our cat has huge haunches and shoulders from his vertical upbringing. The raccoon don’t stay. Like everything on this planet…the time we share with them is temporary. The teens leave home, come back once in a while but they have things to do… Denise

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Scrap the trap when evicting wildlife

Trapping animals and relocating them isn't the best option

A raccoon in the chimney, a groundhog under the shed, a skunk under the back porch … when confronted with wildlife living up-close in their own homes or backyards, well-meaning but harried homeowners often resort to what they see as the most humane solution—live-trapping the animal and then setting them free in a lush, leafy park or other far-away natural area.

It sounds like a good idea, but the sad truth is that live-trapping and relocation rarely ends well for wildlife, nor is it a permanent solution. Why isn’t this approach as humane and effective as it seems and what other options do caring people have when wildlife conflicts arise? Read on for the answers—and some solutions!

Wild nursery

Between March and August, raccoons, skunks, groundhogs and other animals may choose shelter in, around and under a home because they need a safe place to bear and rear their young. Well-adapted to urban life, they will opt to nest in safe, quiet and dark spaces—such as an uncapped chimney or under the back porch steps—if given the opportunity. You may only see one animal, but during this time, assume that any wild animal denning or nesting around a home is a mother with dependent babies.

Unintentional orphans

Not recognizing that dependent young may be present when live-trapping and relocating wildlife during the spring and summer often has tragic consequences. Wild animal babies are unintentionally orphaned and too often die of starvation, because their mother is trapped and removed.

The dangers of relocation

Although homeowners mean well, wild animals do not “settle in” quickly to new surroundings, no matter how inviting that habitat may seem to humans. In fact, the odds are heavily stacked against any animal who is dumped in a strange park, woodland or other natural area.

A 2004 study of grey squirrels who were live-trapped and relocated from suburban areas to a large forest showed that a staggering 97 % of the squirrels either soon died or disappeared from their release area. Take it from the animals' point of view:

Suddenly in an unfamiliar place, they are disoriented and don’t know where to find shelter, food or water.
They're in another animal’s territory and may be chased out or attacked.
They don’t know where to go to escape from predators.
They may desperately search for babies that they are now separated from.

In the meantime, their helpless young are slowly dying. Even if the orphaned young are discovered, rescued and taken to a wildlife rehabilitator to be reared, it remains a bleak situation for both mother and offspring; one that could have been easily prevented.

No matter how big or small your outdoor space, you can create a haven for local wildlife. By providing basic needs like water, food and shelter, you can make a difference in your own backyard.

Bird in birdbath, enjoying a humane backyard

Patience, it's a virtue

If you discover a wildlife family nesting in or around your home, the ideal response is patience.

If the animals are not causing damage or harm, you can be assured that once the young are big enough to be out and about, the birth den will have served its purpose. The denning and nesting season is short. Be tolerant and wait a few weeks until the family has vacated the premises and you’ll prevent orphaning of the young altogether. Then you can make repairs to prevent animals from moving in again.

If you can’t wait for the animals to leave on their own, the next best strategy is humane eviction—gently harassing the animals so they’ll move to an alternative location. Wild animals have a sophisticated knowledge of their home ranges (the area in which they spend almost their entire life). Alternative places of refuge are part of that knowledge or cognitive map. Litters can, and will, be moved if disturbed.

Try using a combination of unpleasant smells and sounds. The size of the denning space and the amount of ventilation will largely influence if such repellents will work. We recommend using rags soaked in a strong smelling substance such as cider vinegar ( not ammonia), lights and a blaring radio during nighttime hours to convert an attractive space (quiet, dark and protected) into one that is inhospitable.

Excluding unwanted guests

Repellents provide a temporary solution at best. To permanently prevent animals from using those same spots in the future, you’ll need to seal off any denning areas. Make sure all animals are out before sealing off any space. Remember, during the spring and summer months, it is extremely likely that the animal denning under your steps or elsewhere around your home is a female with dependent young. Make sure that mother and young are able to remain together to prevent any of them from dying cruel deaths.

If you can find the entry/exit holes, an easy way to determine if the den has been vacated is to loosely cover or fill it with a light material, such as newspaper or insulation. This way the occupant will have to push the obstruction aside to get out or come back in. If the block hasn’t moved for three to four days (and it’s not the dead of winter), the den has been vacated and it’s safe to make repairs.

These suggestions are general guidelines only. Recommended methods for resolving conflicts with wildlife may depend upon additional aspects of the situation and the species involved.

But what if ... ?

When the only other option is killing, we sometimes agree that relocation, which gives the wild animal at least a chance, is acceptable. Much depends on the species involved, the time of year, the area into which relocation occurs and other factors—too many to write a general prescription.

For example, relocating an opossum, an animal that tends to wander all its life and often has no fixed home range (and carries their babies with them), could be seen as more acceptable than relocating a squirrel in mid-winter. For squirrels, it is a death sentence, since they would no longer have access to their food cache on which they survive the winter. There are times and circumstances when relocation is surely a better alternative than certain death.

A squirrel on a fence on a beautiful day

Every day, more and more wildlife habitats are lost to the spread of development. Your gift can help create more humane backyards to protect all animals.

Picture of a raccoon climbing into a backyard in Portland, Oregon

WILD CITIES

How raccoons became the ultimate urban survivors

“Trash pandas” are infamous for living among us, but why are they so good at it?

In the early 1900s, American scientists in the burgeoning field of animal psychology had a grand plan: Bring raccoons , a plentiful North American mammal known for its cleverness, into the lab for experiments on animal intelligence.

They quickly gave up when the dexterous animals with primate-like paws kept breaking out of their cages. The scientists essentially said, “We’re throwing up our hands and going back to rats and pigeons,” chuckles Sarah Benson-Amram , a behavioral ecologist at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. That’s why, she says, “we’re now only scratching the surface of raccoon cognition.”

Picture of raccoons gathered in Golden Gate Park

Found in most U.S. cities, the masked omnivores are infamous for breaking into trash cans, homes, and other human-made structures. So far, Benson-Amram’s research suggests raccoons’ smarts are contributing to the species’ expansion into suburban and urban areas throughout the North American continent. (Read how wild animals are adapting to city life in surprising ways.)

She and her colleagues have performed various experiments in which they present wild and captive raccoons with demanding tasks, such as learning to push multiple levers to receive a treat. In almost every instance, the animals have defied the team’s expectations—often by coming up with a solution that the scientists hadn’t even imagined.

“They’re endlessly fascinating—every study we do, I’m struck by their curiosity and their willingness to explore things,” Benson-Amram says.

Though raccoons are beloved pop icons to many—it’s easy to find “trash panda” merchandise online—others consider the animals nuisances, especially when they’re rummaging through the garbage.

For that reason, Benson-Amram and colleagues recently launched the University of British Columbia’s Urban Wildlife Project , in which they’ll place 30 GPS collars on raccoons and 10 collars on coyotes throughout Vancouver to study how the animals adapt to and use urban environments. The team will also deploy remote cameras throughout the city to observe the creatures and how they interact with people.

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The goal, she says, is to “hopefully lead to a greater co-existence between humans and wildlife.”

City slinkers

Beyond their intelligence, raccoons possess many qualities suited to city life, from their nocturnal nature, which helps them avoid run-ins with people, to their wide-ranging diet.

Picture of a raccoon climbing between two trash containers

For instance, they’ll eat pretty much anything, from fruit to insects to frogs to junk food.

Some raccoons will spend their entire lives in a three-block radius around a dumpster, subsisting off that one artificial food source, says Suzanne MacDonald , a psychologist at York University in Toronto and a National Geographic Explorer who studies urban raccoon cognition.

That’s a big contrast from wild raccoons, which are territorial animals with ranges between 1.5 square miles and nearly 10 miles. “If you can keep alive from one dumpster, that’s your home range. All you have to do is eat, drink, and mate,” she says.

Picture of Blake Morton setting up a series of experiments to study raccoon intelligence

Another boon for raccoons: As temperatures warm worldwide due to climate change, raccoons are predicted to spread even further north into the U.S. and Canada, as well as within countries where they’ve become invasive species , such as Japan and Germany.

Raccoons also have sensitive five-fingered paws for grasping and feeling things, such as slippery aquatic prey. Possibly for that reason, raccoons are especially numerous in temperate cities built around rivers, such as Toronto, Vancouver, and Chicago, MacDonald says. Those flexible paws also give them a unique edge in exploiting the human environment, whether it’s wiggling into the backseat of a car or climbing a skyscraper . “Coyotes can’t live in your attic or garage,” she says, but raccoons can.

Picture of an experiment designed to study the techniques that a raccoon uses to solve problems

Of course, that combination of curiosity and innovativeness can often lead to new food sources that a less timid animal would likely never discover. (Read National Geographic 's series on urban wildlife, “Wild Cities.”)

In a 2017 study , Lauren Stanton, then a Ph.D. student in Benson-Amram’s lab, presented captive raccoons with the Aesop’s Fable test, a classic measure of intelligence. In the experiment, an animal must drop stones into a water-filled cylinder to raise the fluid level and make floating treats—in this case, marshmallows—rise to the surface.

Not only did two raccoons correctly drop the stones, a third changed her strategy entirely and came up with her own solution by knocking over the cylinder to get to the marshmallows—an example of the species’ ability to think outside the box.

“They demonstrated unique and flexible ways of getting the marshmallow reward out that have not been observed in other species—and that I did not anticipate myself,” says Stanton.

The making of an “urban warrior”

Though scientists agree that raccoons are naturally well suited to urban life, a thornier question is whether urban raccoons are evolving over the generations to be smarter than their rural kin. For instance, MacDonald’s research has shown that raccoons in downtown Vancouver can open a trash can secured with a bungee cord , while those in rural environments cannot.

“My hypothesis is that they’re evolving and the urban environment fits their natural characteristics,” MacDonald says. It’s like taking an animal “that’s adaptable and making it even more into an urban warrior.” (See how urban raccoons can escape trash cans.)

Benson-Amram says it’s too early to say whether raccoons are evolving through natural selection because of city life . But it’s entirely possible our attempts to deter them, such as designing raccoon-proof trash cans, are “actually creating smarter animals, because we’re presenting them with increasingly difficult problems to solve.”

For instance, MacDonald recently advised the city of Toronto on a new line of raccoon-proof trash cans. The receptacles have a lever that can be opened only with an opposable thumb, which raccoons lack. “You can’t outsmart them,” she says. “We have to do something only our hands do.”

It’s also not always true, however, that urban raccoons are cleverer than their country counterparts. In urban and rural areas around Raleigh, North Carolina, Blake Morton has set up several experiments to measure the mammal’s innovativeness.

Even if you think raccoons are cute, feeding them is not

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Wild animals are adapting to city life in surprisingly savvy ways

One test involves suspending cups filled with pet food from a tree using a string. Some of the cups are easy for raccoons to pull up from a branch, while others have smoother strings and are harder to grab. Using camera-trap video, Morton observes how raccoons deal with the challenge.

“What we find is that they’re really willing to try out new things and are good problem solvers—up to a certain point,” says Morton, a comparative psychologist at the United Kingdom’s University of Hull. For instance, when tackling the more challenging puzzles, raccoons tend to give up within about 30 seconds, then leave.

“It’s surprising they don’t stay to think about it a little longer,” as primates often do when given similar puzzles, he says. It may be because the animals simply know there are other, easier-to-get food items available—possibly another example of their innovativeness and adaptability.

Even more surprising is that so far, urban and rural raccoons have shown no difference in the experiment.

“Just being in an urban setting is not a guarantee,” he says, that an animal will learn new skills.

Living with “trash pandas”

Even if they’re adapting to it, city life can be tough for raccoons. Many get hit by cars in their first year of life.

What’s more, mother raccoons, which birth between two and five kits each spring, often face the challenge of finding multiple dens in which to house their young. In suburbs and cities, this often means people’s homes.

That’s why, in recent years, a handful of wildlife-rescue providers across the U.S. have adopted a strategy in which animals such as raccoons, bats, or squirrels are extricated safely from buildings , reunited with their young (if there are any), and prevented from accessing the same building again, says John Griffin , senior director of urban wildlife programs at the Humane Society of the United States in Washington, D.C.

The Humane Society often educates communities on why it’s more ethical to take this so-called eviction-exclusion approach , instead of trapping and killing the animals.

Those involved in these efforts have seen firsthand the lengths raccoon mothers take to shelter their young, such as shimmying under roof shingles or squeezing through spaces smaller than four inches. “It kind of blows me away, the kind of things they can climb and the spaces they can access,” Griffin says. Combined with their intelligence and ability to manipulate objects, raccoons are very “adept at using the human-built environment to their advantage.” (See more photos of urban wildlife.)

A well-known advocate of the eviction-exclusion approach is Junio Costa, who owns Mr. Raccoon , a no-kill wildlife-removal service in the San Francisco Bay Area.

A typical call involves a raccoon mother denning in an attic, chimney, or crawl space. Costa, who has a background in construction, will first find the entry point through which the mother entered the building. After locating the animals, he’ll then safely remove the young and place them in a box next to the entry point. Before long, mom will return and move the babies to another den. Then, Costa will seal off the entry point to prevent the family from returning.

However, he says, many people still elect to trap and kill, which is cheaper than his services.

“Raccoons are trying to survive like everybody else,” says Costa. “We can share our space—we need to respect them.”

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TIL: There's Probably a Raccoon Living on Every City Block in North America

How well do you know your neighbors? If you live in an urban area of North America, you might have a furry neighbor that you haven't yet seen. Learn from National Geographic Explorer John Hadidian how raccoons have adapted so well to city life, they are now more common in cities than in the country.

Biology, Ecology, Geography, Human Geography, Physical Geography

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Related Resources

Identification, images, and how to remove

Identification.

Colour Grey to reddish-brown
Size Up to 95 cm
Description Raccoons have rings around their bushy tails and distinctive mask-like markings on their faces. They have five digits on all four of their feet, and their front paws work similarly to human hands.

Quick Links

How to identify raccoons, signs of infestation, raccoon removal, how to prevent racoons invading, habitat, diet, and behaviour, commonly asked questions.

Well adapted to life in both urban and suburban communities, raccoons can be found throughout Southern Canada. The pests are omnivorous and easily recognized for their bushy tails and distinctive mask-like markings on their faces. When they take up residence under porches, within abandoned buildings, and in barns, raccoons cause property damage and leave humans, pets, and livestock at an increased risk of disease contraction.

Stocky animals, raccoons can weigh between 6 and 22 kilograms and grow up to 95 cm in length. Males are generally larger than females. Typical colouration ranges from grey to reddish-brown, but raccoons always have telling markings around their eyes and rings around their tails. Raccoons have five digits on all four of their feet, and their front paws work similarly to human hands.

Raccoon Sounds

Raccoons use over 200 sounds for communication and are capable of emitting a wide range of noises depending on various factors. The pests vocalize excitement in the form of screeching, chittering, and chirping, while warnings are issued using grunts, growls, and snarls. Some of the more unusual raccoon sounds include whistling and clicking of the teeth. At night, these pests may emit screams capable of waking up homeowners and frightening children.

Infestations within attics and homes are often identified by nighttime clawing and gnawing sounds within the walls. Shrieks, screams, and growls are signature raccoon noises not made by similar pests such as rats, mice, and squirrels. Those with families of raccoons nesting their homes may hear low, drawn out purring noises from mothers or high-pitched yelps and chirps from babies. Many of the identified raccoon sounds are used exclusively between mothers and their cubs.

When raccoon infestations are present in buildings, the pests tend to make a lot of noise. House residents may hear scratching, rustling, and squeaking, especially during evening hours. Raccoons also set up latrines near their dens, which is where they deposit their urine and excrement. As such, foul odours should alert individuals to the presence of the pest. Finally, tracks and scratch marks around yards may indicate raccoon infestations.

Raccoon Droppings

Since raccoons often leave their feces in large communal piles, called latrines, cleaning up after these pests can become an ordeal. Homeowners often find raccoon latrines on roofs, decks, attics, haylofts, woodpiles, and other flat, raised areas. To determine whether piles of feces come from raccoons, check for dark, tubular droppings about the diameter of a nickel. If droppings don’t match this description, other latrine-building pests such as badgers may be to blame.

In addition to their strong, unpleasant smell, raccoon droppings can pose health risks. These pests are natural hosts for parasitic roundworms and may pass millions of the parasite eggs in their waste every day. Accidentally ingesting or breathing in roundworm eggs can cause a serious condition called larva migrans, in which parasites enter hosts’ organs, eyes, and brains. Symptoms include blindness, nerve damage, brain damage, and even death.

Prevention & Removal of Raccoon Droppings

Discouraging raccoons from living near homes is the best way to escape the risk of roundworm infection. Avoid attracting raccoons in the first place by using tight-sealing garbage bins and bringing outdoor pet food inside overnight.

For those that already have latrines on their property, prompt and thorough cleanup of raccoon feces is necessary to avoid health hazards. However, in this case, cleaning can be difficult and dangerous. Stirring up the dust of dried raccoon scat can release eggs and waste particles into the air, where they may be inhaled. Additionally, since these parasites can survive in the soil for years after latrines are removed, the floor or ground underneath must also be sanitized using extreme heat. Ultimately, the safest and most efficient way to deal with raccoon problems is to leave them to the trained wildlife experts at Orkin Canada.

Raccoons cause a variety of issues for homeowners as a result of their nesting and feeding habits. They enter homes through chimneys, gaps in roofs, and damaged screens, making exterior holes bigger and weakening the structural integrity of buildings. Female raccoons prefer dark, quiet environments to rear their young and settle in crawlspaces and attics. The pests also enter dumpsters and knock over garbage cans in search of easy meals. Finally, raccoons can carry various diseases dangerous to humans, such as rabies and the parasitic worn-raccoon roundworm.

Raccoon in Attic

Due to the abundance of shelter in attics, raccoons often climb onto roofs and sneak into homes through chimneys, unsealed vents, or gaps in siding. Homeowners who suspect they have raccoons in their attics should listen for scratching or rustling at night, a strong indication of the pests’ presence. To be sure, residents should also look out for piles of feces that closely resemble dog droppings near entryways, on roofs, or in attics. Raccoons have five toes and leave distinct footprints when walking through muddy grass or on snowy rooftops, as well. Since they are prone to scavenge for food, noticeably disheveled gardens, bird feeders, and trash bins can also point to their presence.

Having a raccoon in the attic is hazardous to the health of residents. Since they’re notorious for carrying rabies and parasites, bites from these pests or contact with their excrement can transmit diseases to humans and pets. For this reason, homeowners should not confront or attempt to remove or touch raccoons, their nests, or their droppings. Additionally, the pests can cause property and structural damage or enlarge existing holes when trying to get inside.

Removal Tips

To best prevent infestations, try to raccoon proof your attic by checking that roofs are not fragile or cracked and look for potential entry points and seal them However, homeowners should be sure they’re not trapping raccoons in. Motion flood lights can be installed in or around homes to scare off raccoons, as bright environments discourages them and keeps them away. Since handling raccoons is highly dangerous, proper removal should be performed by trained experts. At Orkin Canada, our wildlife control specialists are experienced in the field of safe wildlife removal and prevention.

Raccoon in House

Since raccoons are highly adaptable urban pests, they often forage for food near homes. If they find a reliable source, they’ll set up shelter nearby, sometimes even entering houses. Signs of infestations include small, hand-like paw prints and holes in yards, created when the pests dig for insects. Turned over trash lids and unkempt garbage bins can also indicate the presence of raccoons in houses. Finally, homeowners may hear scratching sounds and smell foul odours caused by the collection of urine and feces.

Raccoons transmit several diseases, including canine distemper and parasitic roundworms. They are also well known carriers of the rabies virus. Signs of a rabid raccoon include strange behavior, foaming at the mouth, off-balance movement, and confusion. In addition to spreading diseases, the pests are messy and might tear insulation, scratch up home exteriors, root through indoor garbage cans, and create latrines nearby.

Due to the health risks posed by having a raccoon in the house, it is best that homeowners leave removal to the professionals. Approaching a scared or protective raccoon often results in injury and inexperienced removal techniques can make the situation worse. Call the trained personnel at Orkin for professional, safe, and effective control of raccoons in houses.

Raccoon on Roof

Excellent climbers, raccoons gain access to roofs with the aid of overhanging tree branches. From there, they can infiltrate attics, chimneys, and storm drains, causing numerous problems for homeowners. Once a shelter has been established, clawing, grinding, or scratching sounds can often be heard from the ceiling. Other signs of raccoons on roofs include vocalizations such as hissing, growling, and whining.

Thanks to their nimble hands and fingers, a raccoon on the roof is able to tear up shingles and exploit structural flaws. These pests are often looking for a place to make nests and raise kits, especially in the spring and summer months, and may clog gutters or chimneys depending on where they choose to build. Additionally, raccoons defecate in communal areas called latrines, which can become a serious issue in attics and garages. These latrines are breeding grounds for deadly roundworm parasites found in raccoon feces.

Before sealing up entryways into homes, it’s important to be sure the area is free of raccoons. On the roof, make sure to secure any loose shingles and cover gaps with galvanized sheet metal. Chimneys should always be capped securely, and overhanging tree branches must be trimmed and maintained. Orkin’s knowledgeable staff is glad to help in the removal of raccoons on roofs.

To reduce the possibility of attracting raccoons onto private properties, individuals should cover all possible entrances to homes with appropriate grates, netting, or sealants. Remove sources of food by covering trash cans with tightly fitted, locking lids and bringing pet food inside overnight. Additionally, trimming overgrown foliage and storing wood piles in sheds helps discourage the pests from denning.

Trapping, Control, and Removal

Contact the experts at Orkin Canada when raccoons become problematic. Our teams of wildlife specialists remove raccoons in order to keep homeowners, pets, and children safe from the various diseases the pests can carry. Our trained and licensed professionals trap, remove, and effectively sanitize infested areas, as well as develop plans to keep raccoons from coming back.

In the wild, raccoons frequently make dens in tree cavities, caves, the abandoned homes of other animals, deserted buildings, garages, and barns. They are particularly fond of nesting in woodland areas with nearby sources of water. They are capable of surviving in both warm, tropical climates and temperate grasslands.

Raccoons are opportunistic feeders that eat almost anything they find. Preferred foods include crayfish, frogs, snails, bird eggs, and insects. When infesting residential properties, they target garbage, bird feeders, and unattended pet food. Raccoons are omnivorous, so fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds also comprise portions of their diets.

Though they are solitary animals most of the year, raccoons pair up to breed anywhere between January and early spring. Females can give birth to up to seven kits, which start their lives blind and helpless. Young raccoons open their eyes by the end of their first month. Though they are weaned quickly, the kits remain with their mothers throughout their first winter. Raccoons live an average of five years in the wild.

Why do I have raccoons?

In the wild, raccoons make dens in tree cavities, caves, and the abandoned homes of other animals, in woodland areas with nearby sources of water.

However, they are extremely well adapted to life in urban and suburban communities, and also like to live under porches, garages, abandoned buildings, and barns. They typically enter through chimneys, gaps in roofs, and damaged screens.

Raccoons will eat almost anything they can find, including crayfish, frogs, snails, bird eggs, insects, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. In urban areas, they target garbage, bird feeders, and unattended pet food.

Female raccoons seek dark, quiet places to give birth and rear their young, so often invade crawlspaces and attics.

How worried should I be about raccoons?

Raccoons enter dumpsters and knock over garbage cans in search of easy meal. They are opportunistic and will exploit any accessible cavity or void for shelter.

Female raccoons and their young offspring only multiple the damage. Females can give birth to up to seven kits every year in your attic or crawlspace, and with the whole family living there throughout their first winter, damaging insulation and wiring.

Resident raccoons will make a lot of noise, scratching, rustling, and squeaking, and set up latrines near their dens, emitting foul odours. Raccoons can also carry various diseases dangerous to humans, such as rabies and the parasitic raccoon roundworm.

In some areas, it is illegal to remove a female raccoon and her kits from their nesting site until the young are able to leave with the mother. Raccoons can be aggressive if threatened. Safe and humane raccoon control is best left to a professional pest control service.

Can I get diseases from Raccoon poop?

Mainly known for the mask-like markings around their eyes, their nocturnal nature, and occasionally getting into the trash, raccoons can also carry and pass along a number of diseases. One of the most common diseases raccoons transmit to humans is rabies. This virus attacks the central nervous system, eventually affecting the brain and killing victims if not properly treated. Other serious ailments carried by the pests include roundworms and leptospirosis, both of which can be fatal, and giardia, which causes flu-like symptoms.

Roundworms are parasites that live in raccoon intestines and hatch from eggs in the pests’ feces. When accidentally ingested by humans and pets, perhaps through contaminated surfaces, water, food such as garden vegetables or fruits. It damages organs and severely impairs neurological function. Leptospirosis, which can cause kidney damage, meningitis, and liver failure, is carried in raccoon urine, as is giardia.

Raccoons are among the top animal carriers of the rabies virus. There are many signs of a rabid raccoon, although infected ones might not show all of them. Look out for animals that display agitated and aggressive behaviour, no longer fear humans, chew on their own limbs, or fail to notice nearby movement and loud noises. Rabid raccoons may also have wet and matted fur or eye and mouth discharge. Take care to avoid raccoons with any of these symptoms.

Rabies is a viral disease that affects the central nervous system. The virus is commonly transmitted to humans through bites from rabid infected animals like raccoons. The virus travels through the nerves, ultimately reaching the brain, causing inflammation of the brain and can lead to death. Early symptoms in people can mimic signs of many other illnesses, including fever, headache, and weakness. As the disease progresses, more specific symptoms appear and may include partial paralysis or hallucinations.

The virus is especially dangerous because by the time symptoms show, it is almost always fatal. That’s why it is so important to seek immediate medical treatment after encounters with suspected rabid raccoons.

Do raccoons attack humans?

Wild animals are notoriously unpredictable, and raccoons that suffer from canine distemper virus or rabies are even more volatile. Approaching a rabid raccoon, no matter how cautiously, can provoke an attack. These pests will either bite or scratch their victims out of fear and confusion. Raccoon attacks are not limited to infected raccoons. Healthy raccoons may also lash out at people when they feel threatened or when their nests or offspring are threatened.

Bites and scratches resulting from an attack by a raccoon can significantly compromise human health. They are known carriers of rabies and various parasites, which are easily transmitted to humans during such encounters. If left untreated, rabies can be fatal.

How long do raccoons live?

Raccoons usually mate between February and March. Gestation lasts about two months, and females produce a single litter with two to seven kits. Babies are born without vision, teeth, or fur patterns. These traits develop within a few weeks after birth. The average lifespan of a raccoon in the wild is about five years, but with abundant food and shelter they’re able to survive well past a decade. However, it has been estimated that 50 percent of raccoons die within their first year due to disease, starvation, predators, or human intervention.

Other pests related to Raccoons

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At a Glance

This animal

conserves energy during winter through inactivity, not hibernation
gets its English name from the Algonquian Indian word arakun, meaning "he scratches with his hand"
develops its familiar facial mask by about 10 days of age, usually before the eyes are open
is one of the few creatures that appears capable of making the adjustment from family pet back to wild animal

Video & Sound

Description

Photo: iStockphoto.com

The common raccoon ( Procyon lotor) is probably best known for its mischievous-looking black face mask. Raccoons are usually a grizzled grey in colour with a tail marked by five to 10 alternating black and brown rings. Body coloration can vary from albino, (white) to melanistic (black) or brown. An annual moult, or shedding, of the fur begins in the spring and lasts about three months. The head is broad with a pointed snout and short rounded ears measuring 4 to 6 cm. The eyes are black. Total body and tail length for adults averages 80 cm; males are generally 25 percent larger than females. Raccoons in northern latitudes tend to be heavier (6 to 8 kg) than their southern counterparts (4 kg). However, fall weights for adults have reached 28 kg in some areas.

Habitat and Habits

Raccoons are able to live in a wide range of habitats. The only apparent requirements are a source of water, food, and a protected area for denning. The best habitats are hardwood swamps, floodplain forests, fresh- and saltwater marshes, and farmland, both cultivated and abandoned. On the prairies, raccoons are most abundant in woodlot and wetland areas. This highly adaptable animal is also very common in many cities of North America. Movements and home ranges of raccoons vary greatly depending on habitat, population density, and food supply. The home range is the area used by an animal for food, water, and shelter in its normal, day-to-day movements. In rural agricultural areas of eastern North America, home ranges between 1 and 4 km 2 are common, whereas in prairie habitat, raccoons have used areas as large as 50 km 2 . At the other extreme, the area used by urban raccoons has been documented at less than 0.1 km 2 . Generally, home ranges of individual raccoons overlap, and there is little evidence of territoriality, especially in urban areas. As with home ranges, raccoon densities vary significantly depending on the type of habitat. Estimates of five to 10 raccoons per square kilometre are common in rural agricultural areas. In urban areas, exceptional numbers of raccoons, as high as 100 per square kilometre, have been recorded. However, densities as low as one per square kilometre may occur in prairie habitat. In the northern United States and southern Canada, the annual life cycle of raccoons consists of a breeding period during late winter and early spring, a growth and fattening period during the summer and fall, and a winter denning period. In more southern latitudes, winter denning occurs only during periods of poor weather. Winter denning allows the raccoon to conserve energy in the form of fat reserves when food is not available. This is not hibernation, but a period of inactivity. The body temperature does not drop, and the animal’s activity appears to be governed by the air temperature. Preferred denning sites include hollow trees, stumps, logs, caves, vacant groundhog or fox burrows, and buildings such as barns. In city areas, denning sites include residential chimneys, sewers, garages, attics, trees, and culverts. Adult males usually den alone, but the family unit often dens together during the first winter. Communal dens containing as many as 23 raccoons have been reported; however, four to five is more common. Although usually one den is used during the winter, several different dens provide sanctuary during other seasons.

Raccoons are omnivorous and will consume practically any food item, plant or animal. They prefer corn, crayfish, fruits, and nuts, but there is a seasonal shift in diet depending on availability of food items. During the spring, animal matter, including invertebrates, or small animals without backbones, and insects, makes up the major portion of the diet. While they prefer crayfish, raccoons also consume muskrats, squirrels, rabbits, waterfowl eggs, and freshwater clams. In the summer, plant material, including fruits and nuts, becomes more important. Wild cherries, gooseberries, elderberries, wild grapes, strawberries, and garden items such as potatoes and sweet corn are relished. They also eat frogs, small fish, turtles, beetle grubs, grasshoppers, earthworms, crickets, and snails during the summer. Corn is the mainstay of the fall diet in most areas where it is available; however, acorns, beechnuts, hazelnuts, and grapes are also consumed. Raccoons raid the nests of insects, including hornets, bumblebees, termites, and ants, mainly for the larvae, or immature stage. The raccoon’s thick fall and winter coat protects it from the stings of irate adult hornets or bees.

The fall diet is extremely important for raccoons in northern latitudes because they must accumulate sufficient fat reserves to sustain them during winter denning. The raccoon builds up fat over its entire body, even around the tail bone. It may be 2.5 cm thick on the back. In fact, by late fall about half of the animal’s total body weight may be fat. In northern areas the raccoon lives on its stored body fat during the winter, but farther south where nuts and corn are plentiful it continues to hunt for food year-round. In suburban areas, raccoons often raid garbage bins or hunt for earthworms, beetles, and grubs on residential lawns. Raccoons can also be a menace to farmers because they may eat domestic fowl and eggs.

The breeding season generally begins in late January or early February in the northern parts of the raccoon’s range. Mating tends to take place in March in most areas. Birth of offspring peaks during May, although births have been recorded as early as March or as late as September. Year-round breeding has been reported for raccoons in southern areas. Male raccoons are polygamous, or will mate with several females in succession. Females, however, are monogamous, and will mate with only one male and will not tolerate other males after mating has occurred. Juvenile females often breed during their first year. Juvenile males, although capable, usually do not have the opportunity to mate until their second year because of competition from adult male raccoons. Litter sizes tend to be larger in the northern part of the range. Between three and seven young per litter are common in northern latitudes; however, litters of two or three young are usually the rule in southern areas. The gestation, or pregnancy, period averages 63 days. Raccoons are born without teeth and with eyes closed, and they weigh approximately 75 g. The eyes open at two weeks of age, and the teeth erupt at about 19 days. By about 10 days of age the young are already sporting the familiar facial mask and colour patterns typical of the species. The young remain in the maternity den for about eight weeks and then leave to hunt for food with the female, although they still nurse from time to time for almost two months. The adult male plays no role in raising the young. The family group, which consists of the adult female and young, is quite sociable, hunting for food together during the night and denning together during the day. The mother teaches her young to climb, hunt, and swim during their first summer. The family unit generally remains together until the adult female has her next litter, usually the following spring. Juvenile males often disperse from the adult female’s home range, although juvenile females may remain within the vicinity of the mother’s range. The life span of raccoons in the wild is estimated at three to five years; most populations are completely replaced over seven years. However, longevity records of 12 and 16 years have been noted in captivity and in the wild, respectively.

Conservation

Humans are the major predator of the raccoon. They prize its fur and take between 2 and 4 million pelts annually in North America. As well, automobiles kill thousands of raccoons each year. Another major source of mortality is disease. Since 1983, several thousand raccoons have succumbed annually to rabies in the mid-Atlantic and southern United States. The disease is currently spreading north toward Canada. As well, thousands of raccoons die annually from canine distemper, particularly in eastern Canada and the United States. Parasites such as lice, fleas, and ticks are often found on raccoons, but do not appear to be a significant source of mortality. Other raccoon predators include pumas, bobcats, coyotes, foxes, dogs, wolves, Great Horned Owls, and fishers. However, they are only a minor source of mortality. Malnutrition and harsh winter weather play a greater role in limiting raccoon populations, especially juvenile animals. Although some records show that raccoons may be long-lived in the wild, many animals succumb during the first year of life to disease, starvation, wild predators, and trappers. In some areas annual mortality rates for raccoon populations have been estimated at 50 to 60 percent.

The raccoon variant of rabies, otherwise known as “raccoon rabies,” is a fatal disease and is considered a viral infection. It is primarily transmitted through saliva via bite wounds, but can also spread if saliva comes into contact with an open wound, eyes, mouth or mucous membrane. It was first reported in Canada in eastern Ontario July 1999. It was next reported in New Brunswick during 2000, and in Quebec during 2006. In 2007, there were 59 cases of rabies reported in Canada, making it the third most infected animal of that year. Ontario and New Brunswick have controlled the disease with a variety of tactics including vaccination programs. However, currently, the disease is epizootic in Quebec with 58 cases being confirmed during 2007.

Raccoons can also carry a roundworm parasite called Baylisascaris procyonis. It is very pathogenic in humans. The eggs are shed in raccoon feces and are almost indestructible. Roughly 12 people are thought to have died as a result of this parasite — mainly children.

Some people see the raccoon as a wily and persistent pest. Raccoons often cause significant damage to agricultural crops such as corn and lesser damage in orchards, vineyards, melon patches, and poultry yards. They are considered undesirable in areas being managed for waterfowl or upland game birds because they destroy nests and eat young. In urban areas considerable damage to residential roofs, garages, gardens, and lawns has been blamed on raccoons. Often the only solution is to remove the offending animals by trapping or hunting. Problem animals are often live trapped and moved to other localities. This practice, however, may contribute to disease transmission. Recent studies have shown that relocated raccoons travel long distances in short periods and are thus an ideal vehicle for transmitting contagious diseases such as rabies. Habitat improvement for raccoons should include the provision of denning sites such as hollow trees and logs and the planting of crops such as corn as a source of food. However, in city areas little habitat management is needed because the raccoon adapts readily to human-made structures for shelter or sanctuary. Raccoon populations are thriving in most areas, and the species appears secure from any population decline in the foreseeable future.

Online resources Toronto Zoo Preventing Raccoon Problems Raccoon Ecology and Damage Management Journal of Wildlife Diseases Print resources

Anderson, S., and J.K. Jones, editors. 1984. Orders and families of recent mammals of the world . John Wiley and Sons, New York.

Banfield, A.W.F. 1981. The mammals of Canada . University of Toronto Press, Toronto.

Chapman, J.A., and G.A. Feldhamer, editors. 1982. Wild mammals of North America: Biology, management and economics . Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.

Gehrt, S. 2003. “Raccoons.” In Wild Mammals of North America . G. Feldhamer and B. Thompson eds. Johns Hopkins Univ. press, Baltimore, MA.

Hamilton, J., and J. Whitaker. 1979. Mammals of the eastern United States . Cornell University Press, Ithaca, N.Y.

Novak, M., J. Baker, M. Obbard, and B. Mallock, editors. 1987. Wild furbearer management and conservation in North America . Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Toronto.

Rue, L.L., III. 1981. Furbearing animals of North America . Crown Publishers, New York.

© Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, represented by the Minister of the Environment, 1989. All rights reserved. Catalogue number CW69-4/47-1989E ISBN 0-662-17061-X Text: Richard C. Rosatte; Updated by Bradely Turcott with revisions by Rick Rosatte in 2008. Photo: Robert McCaw

The Northern Leopard Frog ( Lithobates pipiens ) is named for its leopard-like spots across its back and sides. Another common name for this frog is the ‘meadow frog’ for its common habitat. Historically, these frogs were harvested for food (frog legs) and are still used today for dissection practice in biology class.

Northern Leopard Frogs are about the size of a plum, ranging from 7 to 12 centimetres. They have a variety of unique colour morphs, or genetic colour variations. They can be different shades of green and brown with rounded black spots across its back and legs and can even appear with no spots at all (known as a burnsi morph). They have white bellies and two light coloured dorsal (back) ridges. Another pale line travels underneath the nostril, eye and tympanum, ending at the shoulder. The tympanum is an external hearing structure just behind and below the eye that looks like a small disk. Black pupils and golden irises make up their eyes. They are often confused with Pickerel Frogs ( Lithobates palustris ); whose spots are more squared then rounded and have a yellowish underbelly.

Male frogs are typically smaller than the females. Their average life span is two to four years in the wild, but up to nine years in captivity. Tadpoles are dark brown with tan tails.

Lampreys are an amazing group of ancient fish species which first appeared around 360 million years ago. This means they evolved millions of years before the dinosaurs roamed the earth. There are about 39 species of lamprey currently described plus some additional landlocked populations and varieties.

In general, lamprey are one of three different life history types and are a combination of non-parasitic and parasitic species. Non-parasitic lamprey feed on organic material and detritus in the water column. Parasitic lamprey attach to other fish species to feed on their blood and tissues. This is why lamprey are often unfairly called “aquatic vampires”.

Most, 22 of the 39 species, are non-parasitic and spend their entire lives in freshwater. The remainder are either parasitic spending their whole life in freshwater or, parasitic and anadromous. Anadromous parasitic lampreys grow in freshwater before migrating to the sea where they feed parasitically and then migrate back to freshwater to spawn.

The Cowichan Lake lamprey ( Entosphenus macrostomus ) is a freshwater parasitic lamprey species. It has a worm or eel-like shape with two distinct dorsal fins and a small tail. It is a slender fish reaching a maximum length of about 273mm. When they are getting ready to spawn they shrink in length and their dorsal fins overlap.

Unlike many other fish species, when lampreys are getting ready to spawn you can tell the difference between males and females. Females develop fleshy folds on either side of their cloaca and an upturned tail. The males have a downturned tail and no fleshy folds. Lamprey don’t have gills like other fish species but have pores for breathing. These seven gill pores are located one after another behind the eye.

There are several characteristics which are normally used to identify lamprey. Many of these are based on morphometrics or measurements, of or between various body parts like width of the eye or, distance between the eye and the snout. Other identifying characteristics include body colour and the number and type of teeth.

Some distinguishing characteristics of this species are the large mouth, called and oral disc and a large eye. This species also has unique dentition. For example, these teeth are called inner laterals. Each lateral tooth has cusps and together they always occur in a 2-3-3-2 cusp pattern.

The Sea Otter ( Enhydra lutris ) is the smallest marine mammal in North America – males measure 1.2 metres in length and weigh an average of 45 kilograms (females are a bit smaller). At the same time, the Sea Otter is the largest member of its family, the mustelids, which includes River Otters, weasels, badgers, wolverines and martens. It’s also the only member of its family that doesn’t need land at all; it’s completely adapted to life in the water. It may come to land to flee from predators if needed, but the rest of its time is spent in the ocean.

The Sea Otter’s fur is one of the thickest in the animal kingdom, with 150,000 or more hairs per square centimetre. It varies in colour from rust to black. Unlike seals and sea lions, the Sea Otter has little body fat to help it survive in the cold ocean water. Instead, it has both guard hairs and a warm undercoat that trap bubbles of air to help insulate it. The otter is often seen at the surface grooming; in fact, it is pushing air to the roots of its fur.

The Northern Giant Pacific Octopus ( Enteroctopus dofleini ) is a large cephalopod mollusk, which means it’s related to gastropods (snails and slugs) and bivalves (clams and oysters). Mollusks are invertebrates, meaning they have no bones. Insects are also invertebrates, but mollusks differ from insects in that they don’t have an exoskeleton. They are cold-blooded, like all invertebrates, and have blue, copper-based blood. The octopus is soft-bodied, but it has a very small shell made of two plates in its head and a powerful, parrot-like beak.

The Giant Pacific Octopus is the largest species of octopus in the world. Specimens have weighed as much as 272 kg and measured 9.6 m in radius (although they can stretch quite a bit), but most reach an average weight of only 60 kg. They’re normally reddish-brown in colour.

There are two species of chorus frogs here in Canada: the Boreal Chorus Frog ( Pseudacris maculata ) and the Western Chorus Frog ( Pseudacris triseriata ). Prior to 1989, all Canadian chorus frogs were considered to be one species, as they are very similar – it’s even hard for scientists to differentiate them! Studies determined, though, that they are indeed different. While the Western Chorus Frog might have slightly shorter legs than the Boreal Chorus Frog, and that their respective calls have different structures, genetics have proven this.

Chorus Frogs are about the size of large grape, about 2.5cm long on average, with a maximum of 4cm. They are pear-shaped, with a large body compared to their pointed snout. Their smooth (although a bit granular) skin varies in colour from green-grey to brownish. They are two of our smallest frogs, but best ways to tell them apart from other frogs is by the three dark stripes down their backs, which can be broken into blotches, by their white upper lip, and by the dark line that runs through each eye. Their belly is generally yellow-white to light green.

Males are slightly smaller than females, but the surest way to tell sexes apart is by the fact that only males call and can inflate their yellow vocal sacs. Adults tend to live only for one year, but some have lived as many as three years.

Their tadpoles (the life stage between the egg and the adult) are grey or brown. Their body is round with a clear tail.

The Common Raven Corvus corax is one of the heaviest passerine birds and the largest of all the songbirds. It is easily recognizable because of its size (between 54 and 67 centimetres long, with a wingspan of 115 to 150 cm, and weighing between 0.69 and two kilograms) and its black plumage with purple or violet lustre. It has a ruff of feathers on the throat, which are called 'hackles', and a wide, robust bill. When in flight, it has a wedge-shaped tail, with longer feathers in the middle. While females may be a bit smaller, both sexes are very similar. The size of an adult raven may also vary according to its habitat, as subspecies from colder areas are often larger.

A raven may live up to 21 years in the wild, making it one of the species with the longest lifespan in all passerine birds.

The Common Raven is often mistaken for an American Crow in southern Canada and the United States. Both birds are from the same genus (order of passerine birds, corvid family –like jays, magpies and nutcrackers, Corvus genus) and have a similar colouring. But the American Crow is smaller (with a wingspan of about 75 cm) and has a fan-shaped tail when in flight (with no longer feathers). It also has a narrower bill and lacks the raven’s hackles. Their cries are different: the raven produces a low croaking sound, while the crow has a higher pitched cawing cry. While adult ravens tend to live alone or in pairs, crows are more often observed in larger groups.

The Atlantic Cod shares some of its physical features with the two other species of its genus, or group of species, named Gadus. The Pacific Cod and Alaska Pollock also have three rounded dorsal fins and two anal fins. They also have small pelvic fins right under their gills, and barbels (or whiskers) on their chins. Both Pacific and Atlantic Cod have a white line on each side of their bodies from the gills to their tails, or pectoral fins. This line is actually a sensory organ that helps fish detect vibrations in the water.

The colour of an Atlantic Cod is often darker on its top than on its belly, which is silver, white or cream-coloured. Its exact colour varies between individuals and seems to depend on its habitat in order to camouflage, or blend in: when there’s lots of algae around, a cod can be reddish to greenish in colour, while a paler grey colour is more common closer to the sandy bottom of the ocean. In rocky areas, a cod may be a darker brown colour. Cod are often mottled, or have a lot of darker blotches or spots.

The Atlantic Cod may live as long as 25 years.

For a variety of reasons, including its rarity, scientists know very little about this rather large animal. For example, there is little data on the longevity of Right Whales, but photo identification on living whales and the analysis of ear bones and eyes on dead individuals can be used to estimate age. It is believed that they live at least 70 years, maybe even over 100 years, since closely related species can live as long. Unique characteristics

The Right Whale has a bit of an unusual name. It is thought to have been named by whalers as the “right” whale to hunt due to its convenient tendencies to swim close to shore and float when dead. Its name in French is more straightforward; baleine noire, the black whale.

The American Eel ( Anguilla rostrata ) is a fascinating migratory fish with a very complex life cycle. Like salmon, it lives both in freshwater and saltwater. But its life-cycle is exactly the reverse of salmon’s: the eel is a catadromous species. It is born in saltwater and migrating to freshwater to grow and mature before returning to saltwater to spawn and die. The American Eel can live as long as 50 years.

It is a long, slender fish that can grow longer than one metre in length and 7.5 kilograms in weight. Males tend to be smaller than females, reaching a size of about 0.4 m. With its small pectoral fins right behind its gills, absence of pelvic fins, long dorsal and ventral fins and the thin coat of mucus on its tiny scales, the adult eel slightly resembles a slimy snake but are in fact true fish. Adult eels vary in coloration, from olive green and brown to greenish-yellow, with a light gray or white belly. Females are lighter in colour than males. Large females turn dark grey or silver when they mature.

It is known by a variety of names in Canada, including: the Atlantic Eel, the Common Eel, the Silver Eel, the Yellow Eel, the Bronze Eel and Easgann in Irish Gaelic. In Indigenous languages, like Mi’kmaq, it is known as k’at or g’at , the Algonquins call it pimzi or pimizì , in Ojibwe bimizi , in Cree Kinebikoinkosew and the Seneca call it goda:noh .

The American Eel is the only representative of its genus (or group of related species) in North America, but it does have a close relative which shares the same spawning area: the European Eel. Both have similar lifecycles but different distributions in freshwater systems except in Iceland, where both (and hybrids of both species) can be found.

The American Lobster ( Homarus americanus ) is a marine invertebrate which inhabits our Atlantic coastal waters. As an invertebrate, it lacks bones, but it does have an external shell, or exoskeleton, making it an arthropod like spiders and insects. Its body is divided in two parts: the cephalothorax (its head and body) and its abdomen, or tail. On its head, the lobster has eyes that are very sensitive to movement and light, which help it to spot predators and prey, but are unable to see colours and clear images. It also has three pairs of antennae, a large one and two smaller ones, which are its main sensory organs and act a bit like our nose and fingers. These antennae are able to smell the water to locate prey and touch elements in the lobster’s environment so it can find its way. The lobster’s mouth is located just below its eyes. Around its mouth are small appendages called maxillipeds and mandibles which help direct food to the mouth and chew. Food is then brought to the first of the lobster’s two stomachs, which is just inside its mouth! The lobster’s respiratory system is made of gills, like fish, which are situated on each side of its cephalothorax.

The lobster’s legs are also found on the cephalothorax. Lobsters have ten legs, making them decapod (ten-legged) crustaceans, a group to which shrimp and crabs also belong (other arthropods have a different number of legs, like spiders, which have eight, and insects, which have six). Four pairs of these legs are used mainly to walk and are called pereiopods. The remaining pair, at the front of the cephalothorax, are called chelipeds and each of those limbs ends with a claw. These claws help the lobster defend itself, but also capture and consume its prey. Each claw serves a different purpose: the bigger, blunter one is used for crushing, and the smaller one with sharper edges, for cutting. The claw used for crushing can be on the lobster’s right or left side, making it “right-handed” or “left-handed”. When a lobster’s limb, claw or antennae becomes damaged or lost, it is regrown when the lobster moults, a process called autotomy or regeneration. Hairs on the lobster’s legs and claws also act as sensory organs and are able to smell.

The Barn Swallow ( Hirundo rustica ) is a medium-sized songbird, about the size of a sparrow. It measures between 15 and 18 centimeters (cm) in length and 29 to 32 cm in wingspan, and weighs between 15 and 20 grams (g). But while it is average-sized, it’s far from average-looking! Its back and tail plumage is a distinctive steely, iridescent blue, with light brown or rust belly and a chestnut-coloured throat and forehead. Their long forked tail and pointed wings also make them easily recognizable. It’s these wings, tail and streamlined bodies that make their fast, acrobatic flight possible. Both sexes may look similar, but females are typically not as brightly coloured and have shorter tails than males. When perched, this swallow looks almost conical because of its flat, short head, very short neck and its long body. Although the average lifespan of a Barn Swallow is about four years, a North American individual older than eight years and a European individual older than 16 years have been observed. Sights and sounds: Like all swallows, the Barn Swallow is diurnal –it is active during the day, from dusk to dawn. It is an agile flyer that creates very acrobatic patterns in flight. It can fly from very close to the ground or water to more than 30 m heights. The species may be the fastest swallow, as it’s been recorded at speeds close to 75 kilometers per hour (km/h). When not in flight, the Barn Swallow can be observed perched on fences, wires, TV antennas or dead branches. Both male and female Barn Swallows sing both individually and in groups in a wide variety of twitters, warbles, whirrs and chirps. They give a loud call when threatened, to which other swallows will react, leaving their nests to defend the area.

Freshwater turtles are reptiles, like snakes, crocodilians and lizards. Like other reptiles, they are ectothermic, or “cold-blooded”, meaning that their internal temperature matches that of their surroundings. They also have a scaly skin, enabling them, as opposed to most amphibians, to live outside of water. Also like many reptile species, turtles lay eggs (they are oviparous). But what makes them different to other reptiles is that turtles have a shell. This shell, composed of a carapace in the back and a plastron on the belly, is made of bony plates. These bones are covered by horny scutes made of keratin (like human fingernails) or leathery skin, depending on the species. All Canadian freshwater turtles can retreat in their shells and hide their entire body except the Common Snapping Turtle ( Chelydra serpentina ). This shell is considered perhaps the most efficient form of armour in the animal kingdom, as adult turtles are very likely to survive from one year to the next. Indeed, turtles have an impressively long life for such small animals. For example, the Blanding’s Turtle ( Emydoidea blandingi ) can live for more than 70 years! Most other species can live for more than 20 years.

There are about 320 species of turtles throughout the world, inhabiting a great variety of terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems on every continent except Antarctica and its waters. In Canada, eight native species of freshwater turtles (and four species of marine turtles) can be observed. Another species, the Pacific Pond Turtle ( Clemmys marmorata ), is now Extirpated, having disappeared from its Canadian range. Also, the Eastern Box Turtle ( Terrapene carolina ) has either such a small population that it is nearly Extirpated, or the few individuals found in Canada are actually pets released in the wild. More research is needed to know if these turtles are still native individuals. Finally, the Red-eared Slider ( Trachemys scripta elegans ), has been introduced to Canada as released pets and, thus, is not a native species.

Little Brown Bat

The Little Brown Bat, or Little Brown Myotis ( Myotis lucifugus ) weighs between 7 and 9 g, and has a wingspan of between 25 and 27 cm. Females tend to be slightly larger than males but are otherwise identical. As its name implies, it is pale tan to reddish or dark brown with a slightly paler belly, and ears and wings that are dark brown to black.

Contrary to popular belief, Little Brown Bats, like all other bats, are not blind. Still, since they are nocturnal and must navigate in the darkness, they are one of the few terrestrial mammals that use echolocation to gather information on their surroundings and where prey are situated. The echolocation calls they make, similar to clicking noises, bounce off objects and this echo is processed by the bat to get the information they need. These noises are at a very high frequency, and so cannot be heard by humans.

Narwhals (Monodon monoceros) are considered medium-sized odontocetes, or toothed whales (the largest being the sperm whale, and the smallest, the harbour porpoise), being of a similar size to the beluga, its close relative. Males can grow up to 6.2 m -the average size being 4.7 m- and weigh about 1,600 kg. Females tend to be smaller, with an average size of 4 m and a maximum size of 5.1 m and weigh around 900 kg. A newborn calf is about 1.6 m long and weighs about 80 kilograms. The narwhal has a deep layer of fat, or blubber, about 10 cm thick, which forms about one-third of the animal’s weight and acts as insulation in the cold Arctic waters.

Like belugas, they have a small head, a stocky body and short, round flippers. Narwhals lack a dorsal fin on their backs, but they do have a dorsal ridge about 5 cm high that covers about half their backs. This ridge can be used by researchers to differentiate one narwhal from another. It is thought that the absence of dorsal fin actually helps the narwhal navigate among sea ice. Unlike other cetaceans –the order which comprises all whales–, narwhals have convex tail flukes, or tail fins.

These whales have a mottled black and white, grey or brownish back, but the rest of the body (mainly its underside) is white. Newborn narwhal calves are pale grey to light brownish, developing the adult darker colouring at about 4 years old. As they grow older, they will progressively become paler again. The narwhal’s colouring gives researchers an idea about how old an individual is. Some may live up to 100 years, but most probably live to be 60 years of age.

The narwhal’s most striking feature is undoubtedly its tusk. This long, spiral upper incisor tooth (one of the two teeth narwhals have) grows out from the animal’s upper jaw, and can measure up to 3 m and weigh up to 10 kg. Although the second, smaller incisor tooth often remains embedded in the skull, it rarely but on occasion develops into a second tusk. Tusks typically grow only on males, but a few females have also been observed with short tusks. The function of the tusk remains a mystery, but several hypotheses have been proposed. Many experts believe that it is a secondary sexual character, similar to deer antlers. Thus, the length of the tusk may indicate social rank through dominance hierarchies and assist in competition for access to females. Indeed, there are indications that the tusks are used by male narwhals for fighting each other or perhaps other species, like the beluga or killer whale. A high quantity of tubules and nerve endings in the pulp –the soft tissue inside teeth – of the tusk have at least one scientist thinking that it could be a highly sensitive sensory organ, able to detect subtle changes in temperature, salinity or pressure. Narwhals have not been observed using their tusk to break sea ice, despite popular belief. Narwhals do occasionally break the tip of their tusk though which can never be repaired. This is more often seen in old animals and gives more evidence that the tusk might be used for sexual competition. The tusk grows all throughout a male’s lifespan but slows down with age.

Adult coho salmon have silvery sides and metallic blue backs with irregular black spots. Spawning males have bright red sides, and bright green backs and heads, with darker colouration on their bellies. The fish have hooked jaws and sharp teeth. Young coho salmon are aggressive, territorial and often vibrantly coloured, with a large orange anal fin edged in black and white.

The wings of Wood Ducks are highly characteristic. The primary wing feathers, which are the 10 outermost flight feathers attached to the wing beyond the wrist, are dark in colour. The outer vanes of these feathers look as if they have been sprayed with aluminum paint. The Wood Duck is the only North American duck so marked.

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Do Raccoons Hibernate? Winter Survival Techniques

August 9, 2023 By David

When winter blankets the landscape in snow and temperatures plummet, many animals have unique strategies to survive. Some, like bears, go into deep hibernation. But what about raccoons, those masked marauders of our trash cans?

Do raccoons hibernate, or do they have other tricks up their furry sleeves?

The answer is, “Raccoons do not hibernate. Instead they survive winter through the use of torpor along with other physical adaptations.”

Let’s dive into the chilly world of raccoons and uncover their winter secrets.

Raccoon standing on a log in the winter.

The Myth of Raccoon Hibernation

Hibernation is a fascinating phenomenon. It’s a deep sleep that allows animals to conserve energy when food is scarce. Their heart rate drops, and their body temperature lowers to near freezing. But not all animals truly hibernate, and raccoons are among those that don’t.

Instead, raccoons enter a state called “torpor.” It’s like hibernation’s lighter cousin. During torpor, raccoons’ body functions slow down, but not as dramatically as in true hibernation. This state allows them to save energy during particularly cold spells, but they can wake up relatively quickly if needed.

Raccoon Winter Behavior

As the days grow shorter and colder, raccoons adjust their routines. While they remain active, they certainly slow down. Instead of nightly adventures, they might venture out every few days, especially when the weather is milder.

Winter also changes a raccoon’s diet. In warmer months, they might feast on fruits, insects, and small animals. But in winter, they rely more on stored body fat. Interestingly, raccoons are quite the planners. They stash food in various spots, ensuring they have snacks available when fresh food is hard to find.

Shelter becomes crucial in winter. Raccoons seek out cozy dens, often in hollow trees or abandoned burrows. They line these shelters with leaves and grass, creating a warm space to retreat during the coldest days.

Physical Adaptations for Winter Survival

Ever noticed how some raccoons look fluffier in winter? That’s because they grow a thicker coat to combat the cold. This denser fur provides an added layer of insulation, keeping them warm as they forage or rest.

Before winter hits, raccoons also pack on the pounds. This isn’t just a random weight gain; it’s a survival strategy. These fat reserves act as an energy source when food becomes scarce. As they burn through this stored fat, raccoons can go several days without eating, especially if they’re in torpor.

Common Misconceptions

Many people believe raccoons hibernate. It’s an easy mistake to make, given that raccoons are less visible in winter. However, as we’ve learned, they don’t truly hibernate but instead use torpor and other strategies to survive.

Another myth is that raccoons sleep away most of the winter. While they do rest more and might stay in their dens during particularly cold spells, they don’t sleep continuously. They’ll wake up, forage, and even play in the snow on milder days. Raccoons are active enough in the winter that you will often find their tracks in the snow when close to a water source.

Comparisons with Other Animals

True hibernators, like groundhogs, go into a deep sleep that lasts the entire winter . Their heart rate and breathing slow dramatically, and they won’t wake up even if they’re disturbed. Raccoons’ winter behavior is quite different from this deep hibernation.

Other animals, like bats and some chipmunks, also use torpor , but their patterns might differ from raccoons. Some enter torpor daily, while others, like raccoons, use it sporadically throughout the winter. These varying strategies highlight the incredible adaptability of the animal kingdom.

Raccoons and Winter Survival Challenges

Winter is a challenging time for many animals, and raccoons are no exception. Despite their adaptability and survival techniques, not all raccoons make it through the harsh winter months. The cold, scarcity of food, and increased vulnerability to predators can take a toll on their populations.

Young raccoons, especially those experiencing their first winter, are particularly at risk. Without the experience of older raccoons, they might not have established adequate food caches or found a sufficiently insulated den. Additionally, if a raccoon hasn’t stored enough body fat by the time winter arrives, it may not have the necessary energy reserves to rely on during prolonged periods of cold.

Predation is another concern. While raccoons are adept at avoiding threats, the winter landscape can make them more visible to predators like coyotes or large owls. Snow-covered grounds and leafless trees offer less camouflage, making younger or weaker raccoons more susceptible.

These winter challenges contribute to the raccoon’s relatively short lifespan in the wild. On average, raccoons live for 2-3 years . While some can survive longer, especially if conditions are favorable, many face an uphill battle from their first winter onward. This short lifespan is a stark contrast to raccoons in captivity, who, without the threats of harsh winters and predators, can live up to seven years or more.

Raccoons, with their unique winter survival techniques, showcase nature’s incredible adaptability. They might not hibernate in the traditional sense, but their combination of torpor, physical adaptations, and behavior ensures they thrive even in the coldest months. So, the next time winter’s chill sets in, and you wonder about the raccoons, know that they’re out there, snug in their dens and ready to face the season.

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COMMENTS

Do Raccoons Travel In Packs?
Prevent and Protect. We identify entry points and permanently block raccoons from entering your home. We can install heavy-gauge screening at all potential entry points and advise and consult for insulation repair and attic restoration. Our customer service professionals also provide ongoing assistance to you after your home service is complete.
Do raccoons live or travel in packs?
Do raccoons live or travel in packs? Raccoons use multiple dens throughout their lifetime. Even though male raccoons prefer to lead a solitary life, there are circumstances where they will join other groups in order to survive more easily. In general, raccoons can live as solitary animals, not belonging to a community.
Are Raccoons More Like Dogs or Cats?
Other research has shown that raccoons form sex-specific groups. That's right; raccoons have "boys only" and "girls only" clubs. Raccoons are extremely intelligent, which (sorry cat lovers) makes them a bit more like dogs. ( Dogs have twice as many neurons in their cerebral cortices than cats, the parts of the brain associated with higher level ...
Do Raccoons Travel in Packs?
Raccoons are nocturnal animals that are mostly seen by themselves wandering urban areas tipping garbage cans to find their next meal. However, people have often wondered if raccoons live in groups or packs like wolves do?. Considering the raccoon's short lifespan of about three years, it is unlikely that raccoons will develop a lasting bond with their family or pack.
Do raccoons live alone or travel in packs?
Male raccoons are quite grumpy and solitary animals. They aren't involved with the rearing of young like the mother is. They just do their business and scamper off, quite like a few other wild animals. Female raccoons, on the other hand, are much more sociable creatures. You will regularly find a group of female raccoons together, especially ...
Raccoon
They are nocturnal and search for food at night. Raccoons are opportunistic feeders and are well known by people for their skillful attempts at stealing food from garbage cans in parks and neighborhoods. Raccoons are able to get food that other animals cannot because they have nimble, almost handlike paws that can grasp at tree branches, nuts ...
A Comprehensive Guide On How To Keep Raccoons Away
Keep poultry indoors at night, and seal any gaps. Raccoons can reach through and pull chickens out through holes. Remove birdfeeders if you suspect a racoon is raiding them. Keep trash in cans with lockable lids, or use a bin with a lockable lid. "Raccoons are stronger than you think and dexterous enough to work bungee cords off a can lid ...
Raccoons: A League of Their Own
"Psycho killer raccoons terrorize Olympia" was the headline on an Associated Press story about a cat-killing, dog-chasing raccoon pack in Washington a few years back. In Seattle last year, a pair of raccoons camped out behind the cab of a construction crane 150 feet above the ground, temporarily shutting down the machine.
What to Know About Raccoons in Your Yard
Raccoons are also known rabies vector animals, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): "In the United States, rabies is mostly found in wild animals like bats, raccoons, skunks and foxes.". Ward also cautions a raccoon in your house can introduce several diseases. A parasite called raccoon roundworm grows in their ...
Do Raccoons Live Or Travel In Packs?
The males will usually travel further away from the home range than the females, which is believed to be a natural instinct that prevents inbreeding, and after this point the raccoons will return to being solitary creatures that will not be living or traveling in packs. All about raccoon mating habits
Raccoons Prepare for Winter
The raccoon's scientific name, Procyon lotor, breaks down to "dog-like" (although raccoons are scientifically more closely related to bears) and "washer." Beyond helping raccoons examine food and unlatch chicken coops and trashcans, their sensitive feet, with five long digits and sharp claws, also come in handy for climbing trees.
Where Do Raccoons Live During the Day?
Raccoons typically have what is called a "home range," or an area they stake a claim to. How big the range is will depend on how large the raccoon is, how old it is and where it is. Urban raccoons often have smaller ranges than suburban or rural raccoons. The size of a range is anywhere from 1 square mile to 18 square miles.
Scrap the trap when evicting wildlife
Wild nursery. Between March and August, raccoons, skunks, groundhogs and other animals may choose shelter in, around and under a home because they need a safe place to bear and rear their young. Well-adapted to urban life, they will opt to nest in safe, quiet and dark spaces—such as an uncapped chimney or under the back porch steps—if given ...
How raccoons became the ultimate urban survivors
July 22, 2022. • 14 min read. In the early 1900s, American scientists in the burgeoning field of animal psychology had a grand plan: Bring raccoons, a plentiful North American mammal known for ...
PDF factsheet raccoon en
thousands of raccoons die annually from canine distemper, particularly in eastern Canada and the United States. Parasites such as lice, fleas, and ticks are often found on raccoons, but do not appear to be a significant source of mortality. Other raccoon predators include pumas, bobcats, coyotes, foxes, dogs, wolves, Great Horned Owls, and fishers.
TIL: There's Probably a Raccoon Living on Every City Block ...
TIL: There's Probably a Raccoon Living on Every City Block in North America. How well do you know your neighbors? If you live in an urban area of North America, you might have a furry neighbor that you haven't yet seen. Learn from National Geographic Explorer John Hadidian how raccoons have adapted so well to city life, they are now more common ...
Facts about Raccoons
Raccoon Habitat. Traditionally, raccoons prefer heavily wooded areas with access to trees, water and abundant vegetation. There, they make their dens in the hollow parts of trees as well as abandoned burrows, traveling up to 18 miles to forage for food. Raccoons are extremely adaptable. They are often found in suburban and urban areas, making ...
PDF WILDLIFE IN CONNECTICUT
Long, thick fur gives raccoons a typical gray-brown color, with variations ranging from sienna to silver. Other characteristics include short, slightly rounded ears bordered by white fur, and a long, pointed snout. Most adults weigh between 10 and 20 pounds, with males typically larger than females. Raccoons range in length from 23 to 38 inches ...
Raccoons
Stocky animals, raccoons can weigh between 6 and 22 kilograms and grow up to 95 cm in length. Males are generally larger than females. Typical colouration ranges from grey to reddish-brown, but raccoons always have telling markings around their eyes and rings around their tails.
Hinterland Who's Who
The common raccoon ( Procyon lotor) is probably best known for its mischievous-looking black face mask. Raccoons are usually a grizzled grey in colour with a tail marked by five to 10 alternating black and brown rings. Body coloration can vary from albino, (white) to melanistic (black) or brown. An annual moult, or shedding, of the fur begins ...
Do Raccoons Hibernate? Winter Survival Techniques
The answer is, "Raccoons do not hibernate. Instead they survive winter through the use of torpor along with other physical adaptations.". Let's dive into the chilly world of raccoons and uncover their winter secrets. Contents hide. 1 The Myth of Raccoon Hibernation. 2 Raccoon Winter Behavior.

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