The “feel” of part of the food helps the raccoon recognize its edible parts. Anything that appears in the garbage in pieces and is found by raccoons becomes a food that raccoons will seek whole. If two or more raccoons come on an abundant food supply, such as watermelons that fell off the truck, then the individual raccoons will know that they can eat whole watermelons they find in a farmer’s field later. The washing ritual in which raccoons feel foods allow raccoons to learn about new foods through cultural inheritance. This allows it to inspect and remember the food, and makes it less likely the raccoon will drop the food it carries to its arboreal perch to eat in safety. A raccoon will wash worms or crayfish to get rid of dirt, but it washes other foods to have better skin-to-food contact in its paws. A raccoon will, after all, sometimes feed on dead animals that were caught in traps. The second half of the raccoon’s scientific name, lotor, literally means “washer.” Raccoons often wash their food, but not because of cleanliness. In the southern United States and in central America, raccoons favor marshlands where they can gather decaying plant material to make cool and comfortable dens that protect them from daytime heat. Green belts between housing developments and woodlands near fields also offer good locations for raccoons. In the northern United States and Canada, raccoons often live in hollow spots in tree trunks that provide both a wind break and a small amount of additional warmth. Trees provide both shelter from both weather and predators for most species of raccoons. Raccoons may even be observed up ending half-drunk Diet Coke bottles to get their sweet fix. They prefer corn and fruit over all natural foods, but especially like pies, cakes, candy, and soft drinks. Raccoons are also attracted to ripening corn and ripening fruit. In Texas and Mexico, raccoons are most likely to be found looking for food in the garbage in the later summer and early fall. In the northern United States, they are most likely to be found looking for food in the garbage in the later winter and early spring. Raccoons go on the move when they are hungry. Invasions of raccoons into human habitat is mostly likely when either food supplies in the wild or low or food supplies near human residences are high. Raccoons that live in environments where there are no alligators, wolves, bobcats, coyotes, owls, or foxes have no natural enemies other than irate homeowners. In the Pacific northwest, raccoons are also eaten by wolves, and in some rural reaches of Georgia, young raccoons make up most of the diet of alligators. Red and gray foxes also sometimes eat raccoons. Bobcats, coyotes, and some species of owls, such as the great horned owl, are natural predators of raccoons. Raccoons do not have good distance vision, however, so they will avoid open spaces, especially during the day when the reflection of light makes distant vision less reliable. Raccoon vision is binocular, giving them depth perception, and the animals have the ability to distinguish colors. The reflective layer in the lens of the eye that makes raccoon eyes seem to glow red in the dark also magnifies images of nearby objects. They will eat almost any kind of fruit as it ripens. They will devour frogs, shrews, mice, voles, moles, rats, and jackrabbits. Raccoons will eat songbirds, woodpeckers, ducks, and quail, and snatch the eggs of larger birds such as turkeys. Raccoons will strip small fields of corn bare just as the corn is reaching its peak sweetness. Candy and marshmallows are useful as raccoon bait that will not attract most family pets.

Raccoons tend to eat any food that is abundant, but they prefer sweet foods. Raccoons are omnivorous, eating almost anything.

Whether you adore the cute little raccoons in the woods and you are seeking to remove raccoons from your garden, flower beds, orchards, or attic, knowing raccoons is the first step to appreciating or controlling them. Raccoons that find food sources provided by humans lose their fear of people and sometimes move right in, and when raccoons establish themselves on human territory they can become very difficult to remove. Raccoons are intelligent, curious, and endearing creatures that find ways to be disruptive of their human neighbors.

Raccoon predators