Why Do Raccoons Wash Their Food?

Raccoons are excellent swimmers and they prefer to live near any source of water like ponds, lakes, and rivers. They have an exceptionally sensitive feeling of touch that cannot be seen in any other animal of its kind. It is their natural behavior to touch everything as they move and feel around objects. According to research, their paws become more sensitive when wet.

Why Do Raccoons Wash Their Food?

It is a natural habit of the raccoon to wash its food in the water before eating. It helps them to collect sensory information in regard to the food that they are about to consume. To make it simpler, when the raccoon slightly wets the food in the water, they can understand better about the food from the nerve endings in their paws. Water is essential for its sense of touch.

What Are The Senses Of A Raccoon?

The most enhanced sense of a raccoon which sets them apart from other animals is the raccoon’s sense of touch. They have extremely sensitive paws, especially the front ones though they can feel everything. The feelings of these front paws even increase under the water. That is why raccoons have a habit to examine all kinds of objects under the water whenever it is possible.

How Sensitive Are The Hands of Raccoons?

Raccoons have five long and tapered fingers with long nails in their hands. As told earlier, these hands are remarkably sensitive. They do not have thumbs and so it is not possible for them to hold objects with one hand like us. However, they make use of both their forepaws together so as to lift objects. They can easily lift heavy objects and even perfectly operate them.

Why Do Raccoons Have Such A Strong Sense of Touch?

The brain of raccoons has been developed in a very skillful or specialized manner. About two-thirds of the brain area which is responsible for the sense of touch has been concentrated on tactile instincts. According to research, it is the highest found in any other living animal. They have long stiff hairs under their paws through which raccoons can actually identify objects even before touching them.

Why Do Raccoons Wash Their Hands Before Eating?

Raccoons have a very good sense of touch in their paws through which they can feel everything. They need to constantly use their paws to sense everything and also search for food. This is why they repeatedly dip and roll their food in the water before eating. This behavior of raccoons is not actually washing their hands or food but using their paws to gather more information about food.

Final Words

Amongst all animals, raccoons are very popular for their habit of washing food before eating. This may lead people to think that they are very hygienic animals. But actually, they are not. Raccoons often tend to moist their food in dirty toilet water. In fact, they are neither washing their food nor their hands. Raccoons are simply using their sense of touch to understand the food.

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