When you buy through links on our web site , we may bring in an affiliate commission . Here ’s how it works .
raccoon are round , fuzzy creature with bushy empennage and a black masque of fur that cover their optic expanse . These animals may look like cute , cuddly bandits , but they can be quite fearful when approached .
Size
raccoon are about as big as small dogs . They grow to about 23 to 37 inches ( 60 to 95 centimeters ) and press 4 to 23 lbs . ( 1.8 to 10.4 kilograms ) , according toNational Geographic .
Habitat
Raccoons are found in North and Central America , Europe and Japan . They are very adaptable , so they exist in a wide range of climates and habitats . They typically make nursing home , called dens , in tree or cave , though they will also make homes in barns , abandon vehicles and other Isle of Man - made locations , according toNew Hampshire Public Television .
Though raccoons are more than well-chosen to make human areas their homes , they can be roughshod when come on by humans . Humans should be particuarlly cautious of come on raccoons because they are coarse aircraft carrier of lyssa , roundworms and swamp fever , accord toThe Human Society . Most expert do not recommend ingest a racoon as a pet .
Habits
Raccoons are not very social creature . They are nocturnal and sleep during the sidereal day . During the wintertime , they incline to log Z’s more , but they do not hibernate in the traditional sense . They plainly slumber while their bodies last off stored fat . They lose around 50 percentage of their body weight during the winter , according to the University of Michigan’sAnimal Diversity Web(ADW ) .
Though these animals look like the outlaws of the open , raccoons are very clean animal . They are known to wash out their food in current and even dig latrine in areas they frequent regularly .
Diet
As omnivores , raccoon eat vegetation and meat . The vegetation in their diet consists of cherries , apple , acorn , persimmons , berries , peaches , citrus fruit , plum , untamed grapeshot , figs , watermelon vine , beech nuts , corn and walnut . When it comes to essence , raccoons go through more invertebrate than craniate , according to the ADW . Some of the racoon ’s favorite animal treat are frogs , fish , crayfish , insects , rodents and bird egg . When food is scarce , raccoons are n’t above scavenge human trash or eat roadkill .
Offspring
Baby raccoons are called kits or sonny and are normally born in the early summer . female person have one to seven offspring after a pregnancy period of 60 to 73 days . As a radical , a mother and her babe raccoons are call a glasshouse .
For the first two months of their lives , baby live in their lair and are weened at 7 to 16 workweek . At 12 weeks , they will start to roam off from their mothers for whole night at a time , accord to theWashington Department of Fish and Wildlife . They become completely independent at 8 to 12 months of old age . Raccoons endure around 2 to 3 years in the wild .
Classification/taxonomy
Here is the taxonomy of the racoon , according toIntegrated Taxonomic Information System(ITIS ) .
Conservation status
concord to theInternational Union for Conservation of Nature(IUCN ) , the pygmy raccoon is critically endangered . The pygmy racoon may have fewer than 250 mature individuals left in the wild , and the IUCN forecast that the full universe size , including juvenile person , is only 323 to 955 . Other racoon populations are not presently endangered .
Other facts
raccoon can run up to 15 miles per hour ( 24 km / h ) and can fall 35 to 40 feet ( 11 to 12 meter ) without injury , according to the ADW .
Raccoons are view one of the primary carriers of the rabies computer virus in the United States , though only one person has ever died from a racoon to human transmission of the disease , concord to theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention .
One theory is that theblack masque around a racoon ’s eyeshelps deflect glare and helps with Nox visual modality , allot to PBS Nature .
Raccoons are very adaptable, so they live in a wide range of climates and habitats.
racoon have five toe on their front paws that act much like human mitt .
extra resources
Raccoons are more than happy to make human areas their homes.
