IDENTIFICATION

Raccoons are mammals 

with a distinctive black mask 

over the eyes and rings on 

their bushy tails. Raccoons 

weigh from 10 to 30 pounds 

and are two to three feet 

long. Raccoons are salt and 

pepper gray and black although some appear washed 

with a yellow color.

HABITAT

Raccoons are commonly 

found in areas with water and 

trees. Raccoons den in hollow trees, ground burrows, 

brush piles, muskrat houses, 

barns, abandoned buildings, 

dense clumps of cattails, 

haystacks or rock crevices. 

Raccoons also live successfully in urban areas.

HABITS

Raccoons are omnivores. 

This means they eat both 

plants and animals. Plant 

foods include all types of 

fruits, berries, nuts, acorns, 

corn and other types of grain. 

Animal foods are crayfish, 

clams, fish, frogs, snails, insects, turtles, turtle eggs, 

mice, rabbits, muskrats and 

the eggs and young of 

ground-nesting birds. 

Raccoons normally breed in 

February or March. Gestation 

period is about 63 days. Most 

litters are born in April or 

May. Only one litter of young 

is raised each year. Average 

litter size is three to five kits. 

The young open their eyes at 

about three weeks and are 

weaned between two and 

four months. The female, 

called a sow, and her young 

will usually remain together 

for the first year and the 

young will often den for the 

winter with her. The following 

spring the yearlings go off on 

their own. 

Raccoons are nocturnal.

This means they are most 

active at night. Adult males, 

called boars, travel an area of 

three to 20 square miles. A 

female raccoon will travel 

one to six square miles. Raccoons do not hibernate, but 

they do “hole-up” in dens and 

become inactive during severe winter weather. 

Raccoon populations are 

made up mostly of young animals. In the fall, one-half to 

three-fourths of the raccoons 

are less than one year old. 

On very rare occasions a 

raccoon can live to be 12 

years old in the wild.

Contrary to popular myth, raccoons do not always wash their food before eating,

although they frequently play with their food in water.

North America Range

Raccoons are found throughout 

the United States. However, they 

are not found at the higher elevations of mountainous regions and 

in some areas of the arid Southwest. Raccoons are common in 

the wooded eastern part of the 

United States. 

Procyon 
Living in harmony . . .

Most of the time, raccoons and humans live 

in harmony.

• people enjoy watching raccoons in the wild

• raccoons provide millions of dollars to the 

economy by those hunting them

• raccoons have excellent fur, making it very 

valuable for clothing and it is a renewable resource

• raccoons provide a food resource in some 

parts of the U.S.

Living in conflict . . .

• raccoons sometimes carry rabies

• raccoons prey on poultry, quail, pheasants, 

turkeys, young and eggs of waterfowl

• raccoons cause damage to crops such as 

corn, melons, fruits, vegetables and grains

• raccoons are an urban pest when they 

get into trash, into people’s homes and 

chimneys

• raccoons can spread parasites like roundworms from fecal droppings to pets and 

humans 

• raccoons spread distemper to pets and other 

animals

Because they will eat just about anything, raccoons almost never starve.

The best way to prevent damage 

by raccoons is to keep them out of 

an area. Fence them out by using 

an electric fence turned on at

night. Store garbage in cans with 

tight fitting lids. Cans should be 

secured to a rack to keep raccoons from tipping them over. 

To keep raccoons out of chimneys, fasten a heavy screen or 

cap designed to keep birds and 

mammals out of the chimney. 

It is difficult to scare raccoons 

away by modifying their environment or by using devices 

to scare raccoons. There are 

no repellents that work to 

persuade raccoons to stay 

away from an area. Because 

they have a fairly large 

territory, a neighborhood or 

community-wide effort may be 

needed to solve raccoon 

problems. First step is to remove 

sources of food, water and 

shelter. Do not feed raccoons!

Raccoons are easy to catch in live 

traps, but it takes a sturdy trap to 

hold one. Studies show relocated 

raccoons tend to cause problems 

in new areas. Regulated trapping 

and hunting are the most effective 

control techniques in managing 

raccoons. However, shooting in 

most towns and cities is illegal.

Hind foot is 4 1/2 inches 
Suffix “vore” means . . .

“Vore” comes from the suffix “vorous” which 

means eating. “Omni” means all. Raccoons are 

omnivores. These means they eat both plants 

and animals. List five other omnivores. 

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Use a dictionary and define carnivore:

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List two carnivores:

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Use a dictionary to define herbivore:

________________________________________

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List two herbivores:

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Raccoons can be serious pests. They have been known to 

prey on pets and can damage crops. Raccoons may carry 

diseases such as canine distemper, trichinosis, 

rabies, leptospirosis, tularemia and Chagas’ disease. 

A big concern with raccoons is that they might carry and 

spread rabies. A new rabies vaccine for raccoons has been 

developed. Now just how do you go about vaccinating raccoons in the wild? Researchers have found that they can 

drop food with the vaccine in it from airplanes. The raccoons find the food and eat it and become vaccinated 

against rabies. 

Unfortunately, raccoons will sometimes eat the eggs and 

young of endangered animals like the sea turtle.

ACROSS: 3. renewable, 5. sow, 6. repellents, 8. kits, 10. furbearer, 11. omnivore 

DOWN: 1. herbivore, 2. rabies, 3. raccoon, 4. carnivore, 7. litter, 9. urban

The name raccoon comes from the Algonquian 

Indian word arakun, meaning “scratches with his 

hand.” The species name, lotor, is Latin for 

“washer” and refers to the raccoon’s habit of 

washing food with its front paws. 

In the United States, raccoons have been 

harvested for fur through regulated trapping. 

Raccoon fur harvesting generated $400,000 in 

1934 and $5.1 million in 1980. The raccoon is 

the most economically important of all the furbearing animals harvested.

During the roaring 20s and the 30s, the “coon 

skin coat” was in style. In the 1950s when Davy 

Crockett and Daniel Boone were made popular 

through television and movies, the “coon skin 

cap” was very popular for 

young boys.
This activity sheet has been developed by USDA Wildlife Services. For more information about raccoons 

contact your state’s Wildlife Services office or USDA Wildlife Services at 301 734-7921. 

Wildlife Activity Book and

1998 Wildlife Issue of the

Colorado Reader

Colorado Foundation for 

Agriculture 

P.O. Box 10

Livermore, CO 80536

Prevention and Control of 

Wildlife Damage CD ROM

or Handbook

202 Natural Resource Hall

University of Nebraska

P.O. Box 83819

Lincoln, NE 68583

Jack H. Berryman Institute

for Wildlife Damage

Management

Utah State University

Logan, Utah 83431-5210

ACROSS

 3. resource that grows or 

is replaced

 5. female raccoon

 6. chemicals used to 

repel animals

 8. young raccoons

10. animal that is important 

for its fur

11. animal that eats both plants 

and animals

DOWN

 1. an animal that eats plants

 2. disease raccoons often carry

 3. Procyon lotor

 4. an animal that eats other 

animals

 7. group of young born to a 

raccoon

 9. opposite of rural

by You

Dec 17,1998

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