VERY INTERESTING: RACCOONS

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Riveting Facts About Raccoons

Their dark masks actually serve a purpose.

Raccoons are smart and handy critters and, because they don't face many threats, there are plenty of them all over most of North America. Although they can be entertaining to watch, they aren't the safest of animals. Discover what's behind these and other interesting facts about the clever raccoon.

1. They Are Opportunistic Eaters

Raccoons are omnivores and opportunistic eaters, which means they feed on whatever is most convenient. Their meals can include nuts, berries, fruits, acorns, grasshoppers, mice, fish, frogs, insects, small mammals, and ground-dwelling birds and their eggs.1 Raccoons are also adept scavengers. They rummage through garbage cans and compost piles and steal pet food that is left outside overnight. They climb bird feeders and dine on birdseed, as well.

2. They Seem to Wash Their Food Before Eating It

Procyon lotor is the Latin name for the raccoon, and lotor means “the washerman.” If you watch raccoons eating you'll notice that they often seem to wash their food before they dine. If there’s no water around, they still go through the same motions, moving their forepaws around on their food and lifting it up and down. However, researchers say it's not a cleanliness habit that drives this behavior. 

Wildlife biologists believe that raccoons have very sensitive nerves on the fingers of their front paws. When they are foraging for food in water, they are feeling around with their paws to gather sensory information. In a study of 136 raccoons, researchers in Nova Scotia found that wetting the skin helped increase the responsiveness of those nerves. But even when there’s no water around, the dunking ritual helps them grip their food and get it to their mouths.

3. They Live Nearly Anywhere

Raccoons live throughout the continental U.S. except for parts of the Rocky Mountains and the deserts, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. They’re also found in Canada and Central America. They’re not picky about where they live, as long as there’s water nearby. They make their dens in the ground, hollow trees, or in crevices in rocks. In more urban areas, they venture into homes and make their dens in attics, chimneys, and in crawl spaces underneath houses.

4. Their Masks Are Anti-Glare Devices

Raccoons are known for their bandit-like dark face masks. One theory is that the distinctive dark markings help deflect the sun’s glare and also may enhance night vision. Some researchers have theorized that dark masks work in animals to hide their eyes from predators. But a study published in Biological Journal concluded that the dark patterns are most likely anti-glare devices.

5. They Are Intelligent Animals

In a 2017 study published in the journal Animal Cognition, researchers assessed eight captive raccoons for causal understanding. The raccoons were shown a cylinder filled with water containing a marshmallow that was too low to grasp. Then, the researchers demonstrated that if they dropped pebbles into the cylinder, the water level would rise so that the treat was within the raccoons' grasp. Two raccoons learned how to drop stones to get the treat. A third found an even easier way: she tipped over the tube to access the marshmallow more quickly. The researchers concluded that the raccoons were "innovative in many aspects of this task."

And as always have a chilled day from the Viking