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In the summer, plant material, including fruits and nuts, becomes more important. While they prefer crayfish, raccoons also consume muskrats, squirrels, rabbits, waterfowl eggs, and freshwater clams. During the spring, animal matter, including invertebrates, or small animals without backbones, and insects, makes up the major portion of the diet. They prefer corn, crayfish, fruits, and nuts, but there is a seasonal shift in diet depending on availability of food items. Raccoons are omnivorous and will consume practically any food item, plant or animal. Today, its range has expanded to include Luxembourg, West Germany, the Netherlands, and France. During the 1930s the raccoon was successfully introduced into Germany and the Soviet Union. The species inhabits all provinces of Canada except Newfoundland and Labrador and is gradually expanding its range northward as land is cleared for agricultural purposes. However, Procyon lotor is found only in southern Canada, portions of the United States, and Central America. Six species of raccoons occur in North, Central, and South America as well as on some of the Caribbean Islands. Although usually one den is used during the winter, several different dens provide sanctuary during other seasons. Communal dens containing as many as 23 raccoons have been reported however, four to five is more common.
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Adult males usually den alone, but the family unit often dens together during the first winter. In city areas, denning sites include residential chimneys, sewers, garages, attics, trees, and culverts. Preferred denning sites include hollow trees, stumps, logs, caves, vacant groundhog or fox burrows, and buildings such as barns. The body temperature does not drop, and the animal’s activity appears to be governed by the air temperature. This is not hibernation, but a period of inactivity. Winter denning allows the raccoon to conserve energy in the form of fat reserves when food is not available. In more southern latitudes, winter denning occurs only during periods of poor weather.
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In the northern United States and southern Canada, the annual life cycle of raccoons consists of a breeding period during late winter and early spring, a growth and fattening period during the summer and fall, and a winter denning period. However, densities as low as one per square kilometre may occur in prairie habitat. In urban areas, exceptional numbers of raccoons, as high as 100 per square kilometre, have been recorded. Estimates of five to 10 raccoons per square kilometre are common in rural agricultural areas. Generally, home ranges of individual raccoons overlap, and there is little evidence of territoriality, especially in urban areas.Īs with home ranges, raccoon densities vary significantly depending on the type of habitat. At the other extreme, the area used by urban raccoons has been documented at less than 0.1 km 2. In rural agricultural areas of eastern North America, home ranges between 1 and 4 km 2 are common, whereas in prairie habitat, raccoons have used areas as large as 50 km 2. The home range is the area used by an animal for food, water, and shelter in its normal, day-to-day movements. Movements and home ranges of raccoons vary greatly depending on habitat, population density, and food supply. This highly adaptable animal is also very common in many cities of North America. On the prairies, raccoons are most abundant in woodlot and wetland areas. The best habitats are hardwood swamps, floodplain forests, fresh- and saltwater marshes, and farmland, both cultivated and abandoned. The only apparent requirements are a source of water, food, and a protected area for denning.
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Raccoons are able to live in a wide range of habitats. The behaviour is no doubt innate, because captive raccoons have been observed attempting to "wash" their food in the absence of water. This activity, however, is probably associated with the location and capture of aquatic prey such as crayfish. The name raccoon is derived from the Algonquian Indian word arakun, meaning "he scratches with his hand." The species name, lotor, refers to the raccoon’s supposed habit of washing food with its front paws.