Oh raccoons! Those adorable ringtail creatures that are beautiful in photographs but slightly terrifying in person. I have somehow spent the first 26 years of my life without seeing a raccoon in the wild. Fortunately, this has recently changed.
You see, there is a raccoon living in the family peach orchard. It is not as adorable as the raccoon in the picture on the left. However, it has helped me to learn about an animal in which I previously knew next to nothing.
8 Fun Facts about raccoons that you probably didn't know:
1. Great horned owls are a threat to raccoons!
In fact, that is a bit of an understatement. Great horned owls will actually kill and eat raccoons if they get the chance. For this reason, raccoons tend to avoid all types of owls. Better safe than sorry I suppose.
2. Raccoons will kill chickens!
Raccoons are a massive predator! It is sad to say that they don't even necessarily eat the chickens. They might eat the brain, but as a general rule, they enjoy the hunt more than the meal. Unfortunately, they can devastate a small flock of chickens pretty easily, so it is important to make sure the coop is well protected. If given the chance, raccoons will happily break in.
3. Raccoons have 5 fingers!
If it weren't for the insane amount of rainfall, we wouldn't have had the mud to capture these incredible raccoon tracks. I also would not have known that raccoons actually have five fingers.
4. Raccoons are very smart!
How smart? They actually test almost as well as monkeys! Is it really any wonder these five-fingered critters can figure out how to get into a chicken coop? The real question is what techniques should be used to keep them from damaging your flock. However, that is a question for another time!
5. Raccoons are nocturnal!
Okay, you may have already known that fact, but you might not have known that during the day, they spend their time resting inside of dense. Strangely enough, they often have several dens in their designated territory so that they can easily find a place to sleep when the time comes.
6. Raccoons like to eat everything, but many foods are not safe for them to ingest!
If you're anything like me, your mind starts to think of items that a raccoon might find in a garbage can, like plastic. While this is true, and it is important to keep your outside trash containers enclosed so that raccoons cannot get in, make a mess, and get sick. There are foods that are unsafe for raccoons as well - some of which, you may not have considered previously. For example, raccoons can safely eat garlic, but onions are definitely off the menu!
7. While they like to do it, raccoons really shouldn't eat garbage!
In fact, raccoons should not be fed food from people at all. Eating our trash can not only disrupt their natural diet, but can also make them extremely sick.
8. For raccoons, porch lights aren't much of a deterrent!
If you want to keep raccoons away, the best way to do it is with low-placed motion-activated flood lights! When they move in front of these lights and the light hits them directly, the raccoons will usually scatter. However, make sure to position the lights down low. When motion-activated lights are placed in normal positions (like above a door) raccoons are rarely deterred.
In conclusion:
Raccoons are beautiful creatures and I am grateful that I am now getting to learn about them (even if it is through learning how to keep them away from the chickens and trash). I hope you enjoyed learning a little bit about them as well!
Thank you for reading! :)
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