About Raccoon: Appearance, Biology, Life Cycle, Habitat, Diet, Behavior

Raccoons and other animals related to them belong to a mammalian genus called Procyonide. Raccoons are generally small mammals that mostly feed on carcass. Most of the members of the raccoon mammal family live on tree branches. However, certain types of raccoons live on the ground. You can find raccoons inhabiting the American continent, from Canada to the Amazonian swamps. Although raccoons look cute, they can cause damage to one’s household. In this article, we will learn a few important things about cute but varmint raccoons.

Appearance
The most common and popular type of raccoon, the so-called Texas raccoon, which causes a lot of damage to the American households, has a brown fur and is known for its black mask around the eyes, which is its trademark.

This animal has a paw with five fingers which slightly resembles the shape of the human palm and hand fingers. On average, raccoons weight between 12 to 15 pounds. A Texas raccoon’s nose is small and sharp. The most distinctive feature of this animal is it thick and long tail that features at least 10 black-brown circles.

Life Cycle
The mating season of raccoons starts each year in January and it last until March. Two months after mating, a female raccoon bores a litter of raccoons, usually four young.

Baby raccoons can stand on their feet when they become four to six weeks old. Parent raccoons leave their litter after month and a half after birth. Before mother raccoon leaves her babies, she teaches them how to hunt and gather food.

Habitat
Today, you can mostly find raccoons inhabiting forest areas that are close to water. Raccoons often find a shelter in tree trunks, caves, and underground holes. During the day, raccoons mostly rest and sleep. However, during the night, raccoons become active and start hunting.

One interesting thing about raccoons is that they are excellent at both going up and down trees. They are also talented for swimming. Raccoons sometimes break into people’s homes by opening door knocks with their finger-like paws.

Diet
Almost all raccoons are more active during the nighttime than during the day. When they are up for hunting and gathering food, raccoons leave their shelters and can swim rivers or climb trees easily in the search for food.

Speaking of their diet, it is important to mention that raccoons are omnivorous animals and that they eat whatever they find eatable. These animals search for their pray in streams and ponds. In these bodies of water, raccoons hunt for frogs, fish, and crab. Raccoons also collect various nuts and berries which they bring to their shelter and later eat. These mammals also eat bugs, larvae, and they dig for worms as well. Raccoons sometimes also devastate bird nests and steal eggs which they eat once they steal them. Also, raccoons are sometimes capable of eating certain small rodents and searching for food through garbage cans in residential areas in America.

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