1. Climbing
While you might not know it or expect it, raccoons are actually agile climbers. The talent is often overlooked because people tend to see the creatures scurrying across the ground and rummaging through waste bins. Still, raccoons can often be spotted climbing trees, even finding their way to the tippy tops. Despite their skill, most raccoons prefer to sleep on the ground in burrows or dens. They also tend to change nesting or sleeping sites every couple of days. While notorious tree climbers, raccoons can also scale buildings and other manufactured structures, thanks to their paws. Many suburban witnesses have spotted the agile critters on rooftops and telephone poles. In a word, raccoons are incredibly adaptable.2. Scratching
Raccoons are known for many features and traits, but their incessant nature to scratch is among the top. If you watch a raccoon for any length of time, you will inevitably notice them scratching themselves and other objects. The scratching behaviour is attributed to the animal's attempt at grabbing. Many behaviourists believe that scratching other objects is how the animal learns to grasp things. One interesting sidebar is that the name raccoon loosely translates to the animal which scratches. The name was ascribed to the animal by an indigenous person from the Powhatan tribe in east Virginian, often referred to as the Algonquian peoples.