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Table of contents
Table of contents
General Introduction
Feeding Behaviors
What does the Raccoon eat?
How does the Raccoon acquire food?
Nutritional Ecology Classifications
Discontinuous feeders
Omnivores
Scavenger
How do these categories connect?
Digestive Anatomy
Raccoon reaching out probably for food
General Introduction
General Introduction
These little critters are extremely intelligent and opportunistic, mostly nocturnal, and not territorial. They are native to North America and are found throughout the United States, but can also be found in parts of Canada and Mexico. They prefer forested habitats with sources of water. They have been known to adapt to urban environments. Raccoons will use hollow trees, ground dens, sewers, and chimneys as dens (Barash, D.P., 1974). Adult raccoons are usually solitary unless it comes to females with babies or sibling groups. Raccoons are also very promiscuous when it comes to breeding (Fritzell E.K., 1978).
Discusses the intelegence of raccoons and how they have adapted to the urban enviroments.
They learned how to take advantage of the urban resources around them for easier access to food.
Afterwards, Sun Bears are put to the test for their intelligence in a Cambodian bear sanctuary.
🍎 Feeding Behaviors 🍎
🍎 Feeding Behaviors 🍎
Raccoon eating palmetto berries
What does the Raccoon eat?
What does the Raccoon eat?
Raccoons eat a vareity of lots of foods.
These foods may include rasberrys, accorns, apples, birds, mice, muskrates, eggs, insects, frogs, fish, and garbage (Lotze, J.H. and S. Anderson, 1979).
Raccoon taking a cupcake wrapper out of a trashcan
How does the Raccoon acquire food?
How does the Raccoon acquire food?
Raccoons are opportunistic eaters and will eat whatever is available to them.
Their handy paws with a high sense of touch allow them to easily hunt, scavenge, or forage for their food (Lotze, J.H. and S. Anderson, 1979).
Raccoon Diet Graph
Raccoon Diet Graph
Percent of frequency that the Raccoon and Raccoon Dog eat or choose certain food categories.
While focusing on the Raccoon, plants are the most consumed while mammals and fish are the least consumed.
🌱 Nutritional Ecology 🌱
🌱 Nutritional Ecology 🌱
Discontinuous Feeders
Discontinuous Feeders
Raccoons are meal eaters. Their meals consist of high-quality foodstuffs.
Omnivores
Omnivores
Although the raccoon is in the Carnivora order, it is an omnivore. Omnivores have the ability to survive off both plants and animals
Scavanger
Scavanger
They scavenge for food/leftovers around homes, restaurants, and garbage.
↑ How Do These Three Categories Connect? ↑
↑ How Do These Three Categories Connect? ↑
These Three categories in addition to their intelligence are what give raccoons the ability to easily adapt to different environments and situations. They have many different ways to find food and a diet that allows them to eat a wide variety of foods.
Digestive Anatomy
Raccoons are monogastric and unsacculated hindgut fermenters
Although raccoons do not have a cecum, in the rare times they do digest fiber it is done in their large intestine (Elston, J.J. and Hewit D.G., 2010).
Hindgut Fermenters do all their fermentation in the large intestine.
A monogastric is an animal with a single-compartmented stomach. Raccoons have a simple stomach and a short gastrointestinal tract (Elston, J.J. and Hewit D.G., 2010).
The first chart on the left has the esophagus(ESO), stomach(STO), duodenum (DUO), jejunum(JEJ), ileum(ILE), ileocolic junction(I/C), colon(COL), and rectum(RCT) labeled (Roscoe C, 2019).
*The nutritional ecology of a raccoon connects to its feeding behavior because its adaptability allows them to find food and survive in various environments from the forest to the city. They are able to behave opportunistically because of this adaptability.*
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