Common Raccoon (Procyon lotor)

County List:

Rule:

Forested or Nonforested Landscapes

Habitat Requirements may be distributed across the NEIGHBORHOOD

      (Any Forested Upland Except Conifer Plantations (Sm Saw or Lg Saw or Uneven))
      or (Any Lowland Deciduous (Sm Saw or Lg Saw or Uneven))
      or (Any Lowland Mixed (Sm Saw or Lg Saw or Uneven))
   containing:
      (Mast and Snags and Living Cavity Trees)
   neighboring:
      (Lake or Pond or River)
   neighboring:
      Grass
      or Upland Brush
      or Savanna
      or Any Cropland
      or Residential
      or Marsh 2
      or Sedge Meadow
      or Lowland Brush

Habitat List:

view size class definitions

Literature:

A raccoon lives in or near wooded areas, often near a stream or pond, and is more abundant in hardwood stands than pure coniferous stands. It is capable of surviving in remote wilderness, farm woodlots, or urban parks.

A raccoon usually dens alone in a hollow tree but occasionally uses a rock crevice, woodchuck burrow, or abandoned building. Tree dens most often are 6-66 feet high in a sturdy maple, elm, or oak. In winter, a raccoon stays in its den for prolonged periods, especially during inclement weather.

A raccoon is an omnivore, berries, cherries, grapes and acorns are commonly eaten and supplemented with corn, soybeans, and oats. This mammal frequently forages along water courses and quickly devours any crayfish that it encounters. Other animal fare includes earthworms, insects, rodents, rabbits, birds, snakes, turtles, frogs, fish, as well as various eggs.

Habitat: Wooded areas interrupted by fields and water courses. Not usually found in dense forests, commonly found in wetlands near human habitation. Areas where water is available.

Special Habitat Requirements: A den in any protected area from a culvert to an abandoned woodchuck burrow. Prefers hollow trees. Dens are usually located in trees 10 or more feet above ground and are located near water.

Habitat Preferences: Although the raccoon may be found throughout the state from lakeshores to inland forests, the species shows preference for hardwoods, especially along waterways. The scattered woodlots of southern Michigan provide mixed mature and second-growth woody vegetation with cultivated fields and pasture adjacent for year-around occupancy for these semi-arboreal mammals. Hollow trees improve the quality of raccoon habitat, although ground dens are also used. The best description of the raccoon's environment in southern Michigan is found in the classic work of F. W. Stuewer. Other observers note raccoon use of both primary and second-growth hardwoods in Osceola County; creek-bottomland woodlands in Clinton County; woody swales in Kalamazoo County; garbage dumps and lakeshores in Marquette County; in woodlands and sedge marsh in Charlevoix County; and along waterways bordered by hardwoods in Chippewa County. Certainly the raccoon has been one Michigan mammal which has prospered as a result of many of the land-use practices instigated by humans. Urban dwellers today are not surprised to see raccoons wandering down back alleys or across streets.

Behavior: During daylight hours, they use a variety of resting sites: tree cavities, ground dens and, in good weather, exposed situations such as the top of squirrel leaf nests or tree limbs.

They excel as swimmers of necessity, since favored habitats are stream-banks, swamps, and marshes.

In winter, raccoons spend considerable time in dens, becoming inactive during periods of severe Michigan weather. Although hollows in tree trunks at ground level are used, Michigan raccoons, according to Stuewer, prefer hollows at an average height above ground of 27.5 feet. One hollow was as low as 7 feet and the highest was 65 feet. In Allegan County, Stuewer found occupied raccoon dens in red maple (22 dens), American elm (4 dens), white oak (3 dens), black oak (1 den), sugar maple (1 den), white ash (1 den), butternut (1 den), and sycamore (1 den). These trees averaged 55 feet high and 28 inches in diameter. The average distance of these den trees from surface water was 409 feet.

The quality of much raccoon habitat has probably been reduced by wanton felling of den trees, either by hunters interested in retrieving game or by foresters concerned with culling less-marketable timber. Artificial dens, constructed as box-shaped structures out of rough planks or nail kegs, have been attractive to raccoons (and other arboreal animals) in woodlots lacking natural cavities.

Raccoons often use underground burrows as dens, taking over and usually enlarging the living places of woodchucks, badgers, red and gray foxes, and striped skunks. Other shelters include caves and mine tunnels, hollow logs, culverts, buildings, muskrat houses and burrows in irrigation dikes (where trees are absent or cleared), rock ledges, and brushpiles.

Key Components of Habitat: Wetlands, riparian habitat, suitable den sites and winter food, particularly in northern latitudes.

Management Actions to Enhance or Maintain Habitat Quality: Preserve wetlands, maintain riparian vegetation; eliminate grazing, intense fire, or cutting in woodlots; maintain snags or diseased trees for den sites; encourage fruit and mast trees/shrubs; construct wetlands adjacent to woodlands; maintain or establish fencerows and shelterbelts.

Habitat: Throughout its range the raccoon is usually most abundant near water, especially in bottomland forests along streams, hardwood swamps, flooded timber around reservoirs, marshes, and mangroves. Populations are low in southern pine forests, deserts, and mountains above 2,000 m. Along with the continent-wide population increase that began during the early 1940s, raccoons moved into plains, prairies, deserts, and farmland where trees and water were scarce. Raccoons are commonly found using ground dens, piles of rubbish, brush, and lumber, corncribs, machine sheds, hay lofts, attics, chimneys, walls in homes, and similar sites for both winter dens and for rearing young. In situations devoid of natural supplies of water, raccoons use sources of water intended for livestock birdbaths, swimming pools, and irrigation.

Preble (1941) believed that the following were responsible for the reduction in raccoon populations in Ohio: a 50% reduction in the lengths of permanent streams during the past 75 years; a reduction in the areas of swamps and bogs; reduction in forests; increased hunting pressure; and the running of dogs during summer. Stuewer recommended that the destruction of dens be minimized, providing sanctuaries to furnish stock to depleted areas within 25 miles, that no training of dogs occur before mid-September, and that the cutting of nut-bearing trees (especially oaks) be held to a minimum. Stuewer also said that although water was extremely important there was little that could be done about the lack of suitable water supply. He further recommended leaving at least one, preferably two, dens per 15-20 acres and with 0.25 miles of a permanent water supply.

Yeager observed that drainage ditches were an important physical feature in the black prairie farmland of the central states and that these drainage ditches were important for furbearers, including raccoons. He showed that ungrazed ditch banks were more valuable for furbearers, including raccoons, than banks that were grazed. Wilson discussed these recommendations for improving woodland areas for raccoons in North Carolina: (1) cut no hollow trees during logging; (2) install artificial dens if den trees are lacking; (3) manage woodlands for oaks, persimmons, and grapes (including planting fencerows and field borders with persimmons and grapes); and (4) keep hogs out of the woods.

In many areas, ground dens are important for raccoons (perhaps more important than tree dens). Butterfield, during a 5-year population study in Ohio, recorded the highest population density in an area almost lacking in tree dens but which had numerous ground dens. He concluded that ground dens may be more important than tree dens for raccoons. Most of the ground dens on his study areas were woodchuck holes. During a Michigan study, Gysel found that although raccoons frequently used ground dens the highest population of raccoons were in areas with the most tree cavities. Lehmann stated that because of high use of ground dens by raccoons in south-central Indiana, ground species of mammals (woodchucks, striped skunks, red foxes, gray foxes), should be encouraged in order to benefit raccoons.

Food Habits: The raccoon is one of the most omnivorous of animals. It will eat carrion, garbage, birds, mammals, insects, crayfish, mussels, other invertebrates, a wide variety of grains, various fruits, other plant materials, and most or all foods prepared for human or animal consumption.