Raccoon strip is a very interesting and funny animal. It is interesting not only to scientists, but also to ordinary inhabitants. For example, it is useful to know what raccoons eat, whether they can be kept at home, how long they live. To answer these questions, you need to read this article.
Raccoon life
Before figuring out what a raccoon eats, you need to remember where this animal lives.
The most common animals in North America. But through the release points, the raccoon ended up in France. Gradually, the resettlement of the animal occurred throughout Europe.
Raccoons prefer to settle in the old trees of mixed forests. If there are ponds or swamps nearby, the animal will consider that life was a success. Hollows of ancient trees will be a great place for an animal's nest, and water is just a gift for a raccoon. Coniferous forests and territories without water, these animals are carefully avoided. In addition, they can live in the rocks, crevices, abandoned houses of badgers. They use ready-made caves, since these animals are not capable of digging the earth on their own.
Lifestyle
In nature, what a raccoon eats depends on the area of residence and lifestyle. In general, this is a night beast. And for hunting, he gets out at night. At the same time, he examines about 1.5 km in search of food.
Raccoons climb perfectly, so they are engaged in the search for food not only on the ground, but also on the branches of trees. Any acrobat will envy the tricks that a raccoon is capable of doing. The animal hangs on the branches, clutching its paws for them, comes down from the tree head down and does much more.
A raccoon hunts with excellent vision and sensitive vibrissa. Surprisingly, these sensitive antennae grow in this species not only on the head, but also near the claws, on the abdomen, breast, and inside of the limbs. This allows animals to feel the movement of air or vibration of the earth, which gives them an idea of finding prey or, conversely, a predator from which it is necessary to hide.
The raccoon is the only representative of raccoons that falls into hibernation. Sleep for 5-6 months directly affects the nutrition of animals.
Nutrition in nature
These animals feed in nature very diverse. Most often, invertebrates or crayfish are preferred. However, there are individuals seeking to feed on vertebrate creatures. Then it will be mainly rats, squirrels, shrews, amphibians. Very often a turtle can turn out to eat a raccoon.
The raccoon's menu is highly seasonally dependent. So, in early spring, in late autumn, animals tend to eat animal feed. But by the second half of summer and autumn, the animal raccoon is trying to switch to plant foods.
The main food of the raccoon are frogs, insect larvae, snakes, crayfish, fish, crabs, bird eggs, rodents. From this list raccoons of crayfish are especially fond of. They are also unable to walk past an earthworm or snail.
During periods of eating plant food, the raccoon eats berries, fruits, nuts, acorns. Its name - "strip" - the animal received because of the habit of washing all its food. Even living in captivity, the animal will necessarily rinse the product, no matter how clean it is. However, this habit has nothing to do with cleanliness or cleanliness: a raccoon is quite capable of eating from garbage cans.
In summer and autumn, when various vegetables and fruits ripen, with great pleasure, the raccoon eats grapes, nuts, acorns, apples, corn. This is explained by the fact that such food is much more accessible than animal food.
Raccoon content
Actually, keeping a raccoon in captivity is not difficult at all, especially at a young age. These animals are very charming, playful, fairly neat. However, the animal is able to show willfulness, excessive curiosity and stubbornness, which causes quite serious problems. In addition, with the onset of puberty, the good-naturedness of animals decreases, they can become uncommunicative or even aggressive. Thanks to natural artistry and ability to acrobatic stunts, animals become favorites of the whole family, with whom you can have fun. It is interesting that the animal seems to be aware of its good looks and attractiveness, thus achieving excellent friendships with humans.
Food in captivity
If the animal is kept in captivity, there is practically no question of what the raccoon eats. He eats everything. And sometimes he eats far from the most wholesome food: he can get chips, pieces of pizza, bread from the garbage, or even get addicted to carbonated drinks.
However, with the right approach to captive feeding, a raccoon eats grapes, nuts, apples, pears, and may even be treated to a banana. He can be given grain mixtures, but always raw, boiled will be harmful to the wild animal.
An excellent motivation for taming raccoons can be the fact that they live for 12-16 years at home, while in the wild, the maximum age they reach is 5 years. No matter how the defenders of the wild rage, they cannot but admit that in captivity raccoons live many times better.