Re: Raccoons

To add to this thread a tad more info.  I concur with
Claire...trapping and relocating is a death sentence.  And, in many
jurisdictions it is illegal and furthermore if you call animal
control, they will kill the raccoon because that is the law  - people
have gotten so hypo about rabies that there is no recourse...healthy
or sick, the animal is killed immediately.  But, if you think you
have to for some reason, wait until at least June.  March is the
month the females give birth and the kits are helpless and stay in
the nest until at least mid May...depending on where you live and
climate, etc.  So, trapping a hungry mother and relocating her
relegates her kits to slow starvation.  They usually have 2 and
sometimes 3 or 4 kits in a litter.

I'm pretty well acquainted with raccoons from personal experience.

They do not eat ornamental plants.  The only damage they are likely
to do to ornamentals is trampling on them when they have one of their
in-group altercations.   They like any kind of  soft fruit - berries,
so if you grow soft fruit, expect depredations. If you have a water
garden with fish, they will do their best to catch them; they also
eat shellfish if they can get it.  They are omnivorous and will eat
just about anything, esp. anything sweet.  They love cat food, dog
kibble, corn (just as it gets ripe and before you can harvest it),
birdseed, fried chicken...any kind of people food except cooked green
veggies.

These are nocturnal animals who leave their nests at dusk and return
to them between 4AM and dawn.  In bitter, snowy, winter weather, they
do not leave the nest but sort of semi-hibernate until the weather
improves.   This is one reason they try to put on fat during summer
and fall, to keep them over the bad places of winter.  If they do not
get enough to eat during summer/fall, they won't survive winter.
They keep the same nest all their lives, if they can.  They may leave
it in the heat of summer if it is in a place that doesn't cool off at
night, but they will return in the fall.  The mothers drive the young
out in late Feb. if they have mated and are going to have a new
litter - a noisy process as the young do not want to leave:-)  If you
have raccoons in your neighborhood and hear screaming and fighting
around that time of year...that's what is happening.

They communicate using a complex series of chrrring noises and odd
pig like grunts along with hair raising growls and hisses when they
are angry.  The young whine and chrrr and talk amongst themselves but
the adults are completely silent unless warning others off or
communicating with their young.

They will gather in quite large groups if there is a lot of something
to eat and share the largess more or less amicably - with occasional
squabbles for pecking rights.  When the food is gone, they go their
own ways.  Adults are basically solitary unless it's a mother with
half grown young.  I have noticed that family groups will reassemble
for eating and are more tolerant of each other than non-related
adults.

 If you see one during the daylight hours it either means the poor
thing is starving and has to hunt for food or die or it is ill and
should be avoided.  They are subject to rabies, but that's not the
only disease they can get that will cause odd behavior..they can also
get distemper and other things.  Generally, if you see them during
the day and they act a bit odd - wavering about or lethargic, then
they are probably sick.  If they are just sniffing around under bird
feeders or any other likely place, they are simply starving.

They will avoid people unless they have gotten used to humans, when
they will just be wary but not, necessarily run.  They do not like
bright lights.  If you want to scare one, turn on your outside
lights, shine flashlights at it and yell.  Generally makes them
leave.  They can get used to artificial light, however, so just
leaving lights on at night won't discourage them for long if there is
food to be had.

Fully grown raccoons can be formidable when cornered.  Their first
instinct is to hide; press themselves into as small a ball as
possible so as to escape detection if they can't safely run away, but
if they are cornered and don't have an escape route, they will fight.
 They have long claws and sharp teeth.  They can climb trees as well
as a squirrel and often will nest in hollow trees, many feet above
ground.  If you have a territorial cat and raccoons...keep the cat
indoors at night. Cats do not win fights with raccoons.  Most cats
won't tangle with them, but a really territorial one might.  Large
dogs can and do kill them in fights, but generally pay a price in
injuries.

Their front paws are like little hands that are very sensitive to
touch...they tend to feel any unfamiliar object all over with
them...pat it and feel it and then, if it's edible they eat it. Not
only can they open trash cans, they can learn to turn on bathtub taps
(but not turn them off) and open cupboards and sugar bowls.   They
adore water and like to wash their food in it and play in it.

Raccoons are bright, playful, inquisitive critters whose main
interest in life is finding something to eat.  If you keep any kind
of edible (birdseed, pet food, etc.) anywhere they can smell it, they
will devise some way to get it.  If you have lever handles on your
exterior doors, they can learn to open the door, too......

Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
mtalt@clark.net
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