If you spend any time on the road, you’ve undoubtedly seen raccoon roadkill. My informal roadkill tally during last year’s cross-country long, long RV trip had raccoons outnumbering all other types of roadkill combined by about 10 to 1. They are prolific little creatures throughout this great land of ours.
But raccoons are much more than roadkill, and the team from Animal Fact Files is here to enlighten us in the video below.
Raccoon facts you may or may not know:
- As prolific as the little creatures are in the U.S., raccoons are only native to North and South America, although they have been introduced as an invasive species elsewhere including parts of Europe, Russia, and Japan.
- Highly adaptable, raccoons can live in forests, swamps, wetlands, farmlands, and basically anywhere they have access to water. This even includes urban settings.
- Raccoons are mostly nocturnal.
- Raccoons can swim.
- Raccoons are known to wash their food before eating.
- Their hands play an integral role in how raccoons sense their environment.
- Raccoons do not have great vision.
- There are three different raccoon species and many subspecies as well: Common Raccoons, Crab Eating Raccoons (who mostly eat, wait for it… fruit), and the critically endangered Cozumel Raccoons.
- Raccoons are excellent climbers who can turn their back feet around 180 degrees in order to descend a tree headfirst.
- Raccoons live in dens and generally raise one litter of kits per year. The gestation period is about two months and a typical litter consists of three to seven kits who will become independent at about four months. Although raccoons often stick with their mothers until the next breeding season.
- A raccoon will typically live about three years. However, in captivity without predators or being subjected to vehicles on roads, they can live for as long as 20 years.
The most important thing to know is that raccoons can carry rabies, so it’s not smart to try to touch or tame them.
Signs of a rabid raccoon include:
- Stumbling
- Non-reactive to sounds
- Wet around the mouth
- Hurting itself
- Producing discharge from the mouth or nose
##RVDT2125
It is like someone spelled carb incorrectly and it stuck.
Ha! That would explain it, Snayte.👍 Except that I just looked it up and Wikipedia explains that they eat crabs, lobsters, crayfish, other crustaceans, and shellfish, such as oysters and clams. It is an omnivore and its diet also includes small amphibians, fish, insects, small turtles, turtle eggs, fruits, nuts, and vegetables. Pretty well-balanced diet. Have a great day. 😀 –Diane at RVtravel.com
Does anyone else think this was a computer talking to us? The pronunciation of some words gave me this clue. More computers and AI taking over?
I agree.
Like a bad AI imitation of David Attenborough? AI searching for the correct cadence of Attenborough’s timeless sound?