People do not like the raccoons to give birth on their property. Do you know why? The reason is that raccoons have a peculiar nature, unlike other animals. Once they give birth on your property, the female babies will return to their place of birth the next year to have their litter and it keeps on repeating for each subsequent year for the young females.
How Long Do Raccoons Live?
Raccoons are intelligent creatures and can live for a period of five years on average. In the wild, they are generally known to survive only for two to three years while under captivity they can live as long as twenty years. The reason is that raccoons have to struggle every day for their survival in the wild while under captivity they get regular food and there is no risk of predators.
How Long Does A Pet Raccoon Live?
Pet raccoons are generally known to live in captivity. Here, they get a sufficient quantity of good food and water every day at regular intervals unlike the wild. Although animals like dogs may sometimes attack a pet raccoon, there is no such risk of life from the predators as in the jungle. So, a pet raccoon can live as long as twenty years. However, their average life span is ten to fifteen years.
How Long Does A Raccoon Live In the Wild?
In the wild, conditions are not very favorable for a raccoon as they have to fight every day for food and from predators. The riskiest period is up to one year from birth when about fifty percent of the young raccoons lose their life. In the wild, their average life span is only two to three years. However, there are some raccoons that were lucky enough to survive even for a decade.
Which Is The Longest Living Raccoon?
Under captivity, a raccoon normally lives from ten to fifteen years. However, it can survive as long as twenty years under the regular treatment of a veterinarian. As per records, the oldest raccoon to have lived on this planet died at the age of twenty-two years. And the oldest living raccoon is under captivity in CuriOdyssey at Coyote Point. Its name is Merlin and is now fourteen years old.
Why Raccoons Cannot Live Long In The City?
Due to the shortage of food and change in climate, raccoons have gradually moved to the urban areas and started to live near human beings. Men are not known to be fond of raccoons and their activities result in the loss of the animal’s life every year. Some of the major causes are hunting, trapping, and automobiles. Apart from humans, dogs and diseases are also responsible.
Final Words
While living in the wild, the main cause of mortality in raccoons is predators. Almost fifty percent of the raccoons lose their life even before attaining the age of one year. The other reasons which take away the lives of raccoons are shortage of food, extremely cold winter, and diseases like rabies and distemper. There are many other dangers in the wild that raccoons have to face for survival.
