Among the most familiar of the wild animals maintained in the Nature Center's living collection are the raccoons.
Raccoons are intelligent, mid-sized, nocturnal omnivores.
Raccoons will eat anything they can find, plant or animal, including carcasses of road-killed animals. They are notorious for raiding garbage cans and can be easily trained to accept handouts from humans. In nature, raccoons normally live near water and obtain a significant percentage of their food from water. Crayfish are a favorite natural food. When hunting in water, raccoons search for food primarily by touch.