11 Fascinating facts on raccoons

Ratons washers are smart critters and, because they do not face many threats, there are many in most of North America. Although they can be entertaining to look at, they can be parasites (especially with regard to trash cans) and are also known to carry dangerous diseases. Here are some interesting facts to help you know the intelligent raccoon.

1. They are opportunistic eaters

Ratons washers are omnivores and opportunistic eaters, which means that they feed on everything that is most practical. Their meals include nuts, berries, fruits, acorns, grasshoppers, mice, fish, frogs, insects, small mammals and birds living on the ground and their eggs. Ratons washer are also followers of followers. They search trash cans and lots of compost and steal pet food left outside during the night. They also climb bird feeders and dine on bird seeds.

2. They seem to wash their food before eating it

Procyon Lotor (Lotor What means “the washer) is the Latin name of the raccoon. If you look at the Ratolouts to eat, you will notice that they often seem to wash their food before dinner. If there is no water, they always go through the same movements, move their eyelid before on their food and lift it from top to bottom. However, researchers say that it is not a habit of cleanliness that leads this behavior.

Wildlife biologists believe that rates washer has sensitive nerves on the fingers of their front legs. When they feed on food in the water, they feel with their legs to collect sensory information. In a study of 136 rastons, researchers in Nova Scotia noted that wetting the skin on the front legs of the raccoon helped increase the reactivity of these nerves. But even when there is no water, the quenching ritual helps them grasp their food and put it on their mouths.

3. They live almost everywhere

Ratons washer lives in the continental United States, except in parts of the rocky mountains and deserts, according to the International Union for Nature Conservation. They also call Canada and Central America. They are not difficult on where they live, as long as there is water nearby. Ratons washers are in the ground, hollow trees or crevices in the rocks. In more urban areas, they venture into houses and make dust in granaries, chimneys and sanitary voids under houses.

4. Their masks are anti-bucket devices

Ratons washer is known for their black facial masks of the bandit type. A theory of reason for which the rats have masks have masks is that distinctive dark marks help to divert the glare of the sun and can also improve night vision. In addition, some researchers have theorized that dark masks work in animals to hide their eyes from predators. However, a study published in Biological Journal concluded that dark models are most likely anti-glare devices.

5. They are smart animals

Ratons washer are incredibly intelligent. Some researchers even suggest that their discriminatory capacities are equal, if not superior, to those of domestic cats.

In a 2017 study published in the journal Animal Cognition, the researchers evaluated eight rats in captivity for a causal understanding. Ratons washer was shown a cylinder filled with water containing a too low marshmallow to grasp. Then, the researchers demonstrated that if they dropped pebbles in the cylinder, the water level would increase so that the treat is in the taking of the Ratons Lans. Two rafts have learned to drop stones to get the treat. A third party found an even easier way: she tipped the tube to access marshmallow more quickly. The researchers concluded that raccoons were “innovative in many aspects of this task”.

6. They are very practical

Ratons washer have five toes on their front and rear legs. Their front legs are particularly skilful and actually look like and work like slender human hands. They use their agile finger -shaped toes to contain and manipulate food, as well as a range of objects, including locks, lids, pots, boxes and door handles. This is why they seem to be able to enter almost anywhere and are easily capable of lifting the garbes from the garbage cans and opening all kinds of containers.

7. They stick to themselves

Ratons washer are mainly solitary animals. As night creatures, they rarely venture during the day, and they try to stay close to their den, traveling only far enough to get what they need to eat and drink.

Sometimes groups of raccoils spend time together, but each woman will separate from the group when it is time to reproduce and raise their young people. Women stay with their babies (called kits) until about a year. The males can stay with the female up to a month before reproduction, then leave after the birth of their young people.

8. They face few threats

Although so many animal populations have been decreased due to human urbanization and growth, raccoils have easily adapted to life alongside people. According to the IUCN, the northern raccoon is a kind of “less worrying” and its number of populations increases.

Although there is no major threat to the survival of raccoons, they face dangers. They are chased for sport and trapped for their fur. In the suburban locations and near the water, the raccoons are one of the most frequent victims of Roadkill. In addition, raccoons are often chased, trapped and poisoned by the owners and farmers who consider them a parasites. In other human environments, they are considered an antiparasitic struggle, as in the San Diego Zoo, where they help manage rodent populations.

9. They like urban parameters

Ratons washer have experienced an “astonishing” increase in urban and suburban areas in the past 80 years, according to zeveloff zoologist. Because they are so intelligent, those who have urban skills develop skills that their rural counterparts do not have; They discover how to sail on human manufacturing obstacles. They adapt to a wide range of sleeping places, use their agile fingers to open garbage cans and enter the garages and other buildings, and climb fire escapes. Toronto, who was invaded by raccoils, won the unfortunate title of “Capital of the World”, and the mayor of the city even declared a war against the raccoons in which “defeat is not an option”.

10. They have a lot of babies

Ratons washer are more likely to reproduce than many other wild animals. They only reproduce once a year, but a female will give birth to three or four babies on average. Often, she waits for the last minute to find a den to give birth, which is why urban structures are so attractive; They have many hiding places immediately accessible. The mother raccoon is fiercely maternal and will cause immense damage if they were separated from its offspring. Babies stay with their mother throughout their first winter before venturing by themselves.

11. They carry diseases and parasites

After bats, raccoons are the second rabid wild species the most frequently reported, according to the CDC. They can wear it without signs or external symptoms. Human rabies are rare in the United States, however. Between 2009 and 2019, only 25 cases of human rage were reported in the United States, and only two of these cases were associated with raccoons.

Ratons washer can also wear a raccoon worm, a serious illness that can cause neurological damage. It spreads through soil ingestion or other materials contaminated by infected raccoon excrement. In addition, rates washer can transport leptospirosis and disease disease. To protect your family and pets, wash your hands after spending time outside, teach young children not to put in their mouths and keep your pet vaccinated.