Raccoons are mostly found throughout the United States. They love to stay in the tree-covered areas by the side of the water. However, nowadays raccoons are mostly found in towns and the countryside. As they love to eat, raccoons have started to live near people where they can get sufficient food.
Are Raccoons Omnivores?
Raccoons are Omnivores. They eat both plants and animals. They are not at all selective when it comes to eating. They can feed everything that they get. Raccoons love to eat fish, crab, turtles, insects, mice, small mammals, and birds. At the same time, they tend to eat plant-like materials such as fruits, grain, and seeds. Additionally, they eat pet foods and human garbage.
What Do Raccoons Eat In The Wild?
Raccoons are very skilled in using their paws to catch fish, stealing eggs from the nest, or plucking fruits from trees. They love to hunt the slow-moving creatures in the wild. They attack the vegetable garden, garbage can, chicken house, or the food bowl of a pet.
What Do Raccoons Eat In The City?
Cities are heavily populated and it is difficult for Raccoons to find food. They get to eat birds, eggs, mice, or squirrels but that is not enough for them to survive. So they search for waste foods from the rubbish containers, the garbage cans, and even from the road kills. Sometimes they even become brave and beg for food from humans.
Why Do Raccoons Eat Meat?
To stay healthy, raccoons need to eat meat. As raccoons are omnivores, eating only plants will not give them essential proteins and vitamins. They require a variety of foods from which they can receive enough nutrients like plants, seeds, fruits, and animals which helps them to survive.
Why Do Raccoons Eat Fish?
Raccoons are good hunters. Their paws are equipped with heightened touch sensation which helps them to catch prey in the shallow water. Because of this special ability, raccoons wait near the edge of the water and whenever they see a fish they just latch on to it with their paws.
Why Do Raccoons Eat Eggs?
Eggs are one of the most favorite foods of a raccoon. It is due to two reasons. Firstly, eggs have a lot of protein as well as nutrients. So it gives the raccoons plenty of nutritional benefits. Secondly, eggs are a huge source of energy. It provides the raccoons far more energy than it spends during the entire day. Raccoons prefer to eat the eggs from the nests of birds when the mother is away.
Why Do Raccoons Eat Snakes And Other Reptiles?
Raccoons cannot feed on the lizards that can move fast. They prefer to eat an injured or dead lizard. Similarly, raccoons also eat the dead and injured snakes. There are, however, some young snakes that cannot move fast like the adults. So, these young snakes become the easy target of raccoons.
Final Words
Being omnivores, the raccoons like to eat a lot of vegetables. One of their chief vegetable items is the sweet corn patches. The other vegetable items which the raccoons commonly prefer to have are grapes, berries, melons, and a wide range of similar garden vegetables.
