Mammals
Raccoon
Procyon lotor · also called common raccoon, northern raccoon, coon
The raccoon is one of the great success stories of living next to humans. It has a bandit’s mask, a ringed tail, and a pair of hands so sensitive it can tell what it is holding in the dark, underwater — and it has used those advantages to spread from North American forests into cities on three continents.
Overview
Raccoons are native to North and Central America and are most at home in wooded areas near water — riverbanks, marshes, lake edges — but they are famously adaptable and now flourish in farmland, suburbs, and dense cities. They are nocturnal, mostly solitary, and omnivorous to an extreme degree, eating fruit, nuts, insects, crayfish, frogs, eggs, small animals, carrion, and whatever people leave out. In cold regions they do not truly hibernate but hole up and sleep through the worst weather, living off fat built up in autumn.
The hands
A raccoon’s defining feature is its forepaws. Each has five long, dexterous fingers, no opposable thumb, and an extraordinary density of touch receptors — around four to five times that of most mammals — with a correspondingly huge share of the brain devoted to processing touch. A raccoon “sees” much of its world through its fingertips, and it can identify and handle food, open containers, and undo fasteners without looking. Wetting the paws heightens the sense further, which is the likely reason for the famous food-dunking behaviour rather than any interest in hygiene.
Problem-solvers
Raccoons are persistent, inventive, and have good memories. Century-old experiments showed they could open most complex locks, cope when the locks were altered, and recall the trick years later. City raccoons apply the same skills to bins, latches, chimneys, and cat flaps, and pass “which gardens are worth visiting” knowledge around by simply following each other’s success.
Health and conflict
Raccoons are a major rabies reservoir in the eastern US and can carry distemper, leptospirosis, and a roundworm hazardous to people. They are not aggressive when healthy, but they should never be fed or handled, and a raccoon behaving oddly or active by day should be reported.
Status and spread
The raccoon is Least Concern and increasing. Beyond its native range it is now an established invasive species in Germany and neighbouring countries (from fur farms and releases) and in Japan (from the 1970s pet trade), where it damages crops, buildings, and native wildlife and is the target of control programmes.
Raccoon: common questions
Why do raccoons look like they wash their food?
Captive raccoons very often dunk and rub food items in water before eating, which looks exactly like washing and gave the species its name (lotor means "washer"). But wild raccoons do this much less, and they will "wash" even when no food is dirty, so it is probably not about cleaning. The leading explanation is sensory — wetting the highly sensitive forepaws and manipulating an object underwater seems to help the raccoon gather information about it. Water also softens the tough outer skin on their paws, making them even more tactile.
How smart are raccoons?
Genuinely clever, especially with their hands. Studies going back to the early 1900s found raccoons could open the large majority of complex locks presented to them, could do so after the locks were rearranged or turned upside down, and still remembered the solutions up to three years later. In the wild this shows up as an ability to defeat "raccoon-proof" bins, latches, and enclosures, and to quickly learn which houses, bird feeders, and campsites are worth revisiting. Their problem-solving is often compared to that of monkeys.
Are raccoons dangerous? Do they carry rabies?
Raccoons are a primary wildlife reservoir for rabies in the eastern United States, and they can also carry canine distemper, leptospirosis, and a roundworm (Baylisascaris) whose eggs are dangerous to humans. Healthy raccoons avoid people and are not aggressive; a raccoon that is active in daylight, staggering, or unafraid should be given a wide berth and reported. They are not something to feed or approach, and feeding them near homes tends to create exactly the conflicts — raided bins, attic dens, pet-food theft — that make them a nuisance.
How have raccoons ended up in Europe and Japan?
In Europe, raccoons were brought over for fur farming and as novelties in the early 20th century; escapes and deliberate releases (including a famous release in Germany in 1934) founded wild populations that now number in the hundreds of thousands, mainly in Germany but spreading. In Japan, a 1970s cartoon led to thousands of raccoons being imported as pets; when they proved unmanageable, many were released or escaped, and they are now an established invasive species damaging crops and historic buildings. In both regions raccoons are treated as an invasive threat to native wildlife.