The raccoon (Procyon lotor) is a highly adaptable and intelligent mammal, easily recognized by the distinctive black mask across its eyes and cheeks. This native North American species has successfully expanded its range across the continent, thriving in diverse environments from dense forests to busy city centers. Their success is largely attributed to their nature as opportunistic omnivores. This flexibility allows the raccoon to exploit available resources, making its feeding habits a direct reflection of its immediate surroundings and the changing seasons.
The Raccoon’s Natural Diet
Outside of human-dominated landscapes, the raccoon’s diet shifts throughout the year based on natural availability. During the warmer months, they consume a high proportion of invertebrates, such as crayfish, insects, earthworms, and grubs, which provide a rich source of protein. Raccoons are skilled hunters in aquatic environments, using their paws to catch amphibians like frogs and fish in shallow water.
As the seasons change toward fall, their focus shifts to high-calorie plant matter to build up fat reserves for the winter. This dietary period includes a heavy consumption of fruits, berries, and nuts, such as acorns and hickory nuts, alongside grains like corn. They also prey on small vertebrates, including rodents, young rabbits, and the eggs of birds and turtles, demonstrating a diverse and predatory side to their foraging.
Urban Scavenging and Opportunistic Eating
In suburban and urban areas, raccoons exploit the reliable and calorie-dense food sources unintentionally supplied by human activity. Unsecured garbage cans become their primary foraging ground; their dexterity allows them to solve complex problems like opening container latches and trash can lids. This consistent availability of discarded food replaces much of their natural hunting and gathering effort.
Raccoons readily consume pet food left outdoors, as well as the seeds and nuts spilled from bird feeders. They frequently raid gardens and agricultural fields, targeting cultivated crops like corn, watermelons, and squash. Urban populations have learned that human environments offer a consistent, high-yield food supply.
Unique Feeding Behaviors
Raccoons are primarily nocturnal, conducting most of their foraging activity under the cover of darkness. Their front paws have five fingers and a high degree of dexterity, resembling a small hand, which allows for exceptional manipulation of objects. This adaptation enables them to explore their environment and identify potential food items through touch, a sense that is particularly well-developed.
The common observation of a raccoon seemingly “washing” food in water is actually a form of tactile exploration, not an act of cleanliness. Researchers have determined that wetting their paws significantly increases the sensitivity of the dense nerve endings in the pads. Moistening an object allows the raccoon to gather more detailed sensory information about its texture and shape, which is especially useful when searching for aquatic prey.
The Risks of Human Interaction
The consumption of human-provided food sources can lead to health problems for raccoons, including obesity and a dependency that disrupts their natural foraging instincts. When raccoons lose their natural wariness of people due to easy food access, they become habituated, increasing the potential for conflict. This often results in raccoons attempting to den in attics, chimneys, and other human structures.
Raccoons carry several diseases that pose a risk to humans and pets. Rabies is a viral infection transmitted through saliva, and raccoons are one of the most common carriers in North America. A particular concern is the Raccoon Roundworm, Baylisascaris procyonis, an intestinal parasite whose eggs are shed in raccoon feces. Ingestion of these microscopic eggs can cause severe neurological damage in humans, known as neural larva migrans, which can be fatal.