Raccoons are a familiar sight in urban and suburban environments across North America, often observed raiding garbage cans or foraging for food under the cover of night. Raccoons are highly adaptable omnivores, and while they possess the physical capability to hunt many small animals, squirrels are generally not a primary or preferred component of their diet. While raccoons will consume a squirrel given the opportunity, it is a relatively rare event driven by circumstance rather than a consistent hunting strategy.
Raccoons as Opportunistic Predators
Raccoons are classified as opportunistic omnivores, meaning they consume both plant and animal matter and readily adjust their feeding habits to whatever food source is most easily available in their habitat. As a predator, the raccoon employs a strategy that prioritizes energy conservation, seeking prey that requires minimal effort to subdue. Healthy, adult squirrels, which are quick, highly alert, and diurnal (active during the day), represent a high-energy expenditure for a nocturnal raccoon.
Attempting to chase and capture an alert adult squirrel is often an unprofitable endeavor for a raccoon, which relies more on stealth and manipulation than speed for hunting. Predation on a squirrel is usually limited to situations where the raccoon is experiencing significant hunger or when the squirrel is compromised. Raccoons take the path of least resistance, preferring scavenging or targeting sedentary prey like eggs, nestlings, or amphibians.
The Raccoon’s Diverse Diet
Squirrels are rarely targeted because the raccoon has access to a much wider and more easily obtainable range of food sources. The majority of a raccoon’s natural diet is composed of invertebrates, such as insects, grubs, earthworms, crayfish, and snails. These are slow-moving and easy to locate using the raccoon’s sensitive sense of touch.
Raccoons also consume a large volume of plant-based matter, especially during the fall to build up fat reserves for winter. These items include:
- Berries
- Nuts
- Acorns
- Grains
- Fruits
In urban areas, these natural food sources are supplemented by human-related items, further reducing the need to actively hunt. Raccoons are highly successful scavengers, readily eating pet food left outdoors, discarded food scraps found in unsecured trash receptacles, and seed from bird feeders. This diverse menu of low-effort food reinforces the raccoon’s opportunistic feeding style, making the pursuit of a fast-moving squirrel unnecessary.
Scenarios for Squirrel Predation
While adult squirrels are generally safe, specific scenarios increase the likelihood of them becoming prey. The most common instance of direct predation occurs when a raccoon raids a squirrel’s nest, known as a drey, which is often located high in a tree canopy or within a hollow tree cavity.
Raccoons are adept climbers and, being nocturnal, have a significant advantage over the diurnal squirrels while they are sleeping or have young. The young, defenseless squirrel kits provide a high-protein, high-fat meal with zero risk to the raccoon.
Predation also occurs when a raccoon encounters an adult squirrel that is sick, severely injured, or elderly and cannot flee quickly. A compromised squirrel becomes an easy target that requires little exertion, fitting the raccoon’s energy-efficient hunting profile. Raccoons are highly efficient scavengers and will readily consume the carcass of any dead squirrel they find, including those killed by cars, other predators, or natural causes.