Raccoons readily eat trash, and their frequent encounters with human garbage result from their evolutionary adaptability and intelligence. These masked mammals have successfully integrated into human-dominated environments by exploiting the abundant, calorie-dense food resources found in residential waste streams.
The urban ecosystem provides a reliable, concentrated food supply that requires far less effort to obtain than foraging for natural sources. This attraction to discarded food has made the raccoon a ubiquitous, though often unwelcome, neighbor in cities and suburbs.
The Raccoon’s Opportunistic Diet
The raccoon is classified as an omnivorous generalist, meaning it consumes both plant and animal matter and thrives on a wide variety of food sources. In natural settings, their diet consists of nuts, berries, insects, crayfish, amphibians, and small vertebrates, often foraged near water sources. This ecological flexibility is the foundation for their success in urban areas.
When raccoons move into human habitats, they shift their focus to the easiest available food source: human waste. This discarded food is appealing because it is energy-rich and requires minimal foraging effort, especially when natural sources are scarce. During the fall, raccoons seek high-calorie foods to build fat reserves for the winter, making trash bins and compost piles prime targets. The odor from unsealed garbage acts as a powerful attractant, drawing them away from natural fare.
Urban Foraging Behaviors and Intelligence
The raccoon’s proficiency at accessing human garbage stems from advanced intelligence and unique physical adaptations. They possess exceptional manual dexterity, often compared to human hands, which allows them to manipulate objects with precision. Their front paws are highly sensitive, containing a dense network of nerve endings that allow them to “see” objects through touch, enabling them to identify food in the dark.
This manual ability, paired with strong problem-solving skills, allows them to defeat common security measures. Studies show that raccoons can learn to open complex latches, turn doorknobs, and even unfasten simple knots to reach a food reward.
Furthermore, they have long-term memory, retaining solutions to these problems for extended periods, sometimes over a year. Once a raccoon figures out how to open a specific type of garbage can mechanism, it will remember that solution and use it again, making them difficult to deter.
Securing Your Property from Raccoons
Mitigating raccoon activity requires a proactive strategy focused on eliminating food attractants and securing containers against their physical abilities. The most effective method is to use wildlife-resistant garbage cans featuring robust locking lids or twist-and-lock mechanisms that their paws cannot easily maneuver.
If specialized containers are unavailable, securing existing lids with strong bungee cords looped through the handles and over the top creates a challenging barrier. It is also effective to remove other easily accessible food sources that may be drawing them to the area.
This includes bringing pet food indoors at night, cleaning barbecue grills thoroughly after use, and ensuring any fallen fruit from trees is regularly collected. Storing garbage cans in a secured garage or shed until the morning of collection day removes the container from the raccoon’s nocturnal foraging window entirely. For temporary deterrence, motion-activated lights or sprinklers placed near the containers can startle them and discourage repeat visits.