What’s on a Raccoon’s Daily Menu?
Raccoons are pretty adept at finding food both in the wild and cities. Their natural ability to jump, swim, climb and run makes the job even easier for them. Their human-like paws, which have five finger-like paws, allow them to grab, twist, turn and move items to access food. In both settings, they consume a wide variety of meat, fruits and berries and plants. In the wild berries, small animals and green plants are eaten by raccoons. Their preferred food in the wild includes frogs, snails, clams, crayfish, and fish, which they can get from water sources like rivers. In addition to those preferred items, a raccoon’s meal menu can also include slugs, bird eggs, and birds. If they need to do so to survive, they will also eat animal carcasses. In the spaces shared by humans, they adjust their diets to accommodate the things people have around. City raccoons, for example, will eat fast food that they find in a dumpster (or anywhere else for that matter.) Etobicoke, through its numerous human activities, provides the perfect nightly feasts for raccoons. These include dumpsters and garbage disposal sites in which discarded food and other tasty raccoon treats are stored. The rats and mice that hang out in and around dumpsters also make great meals for raccoons.Raccoons and Your Garden
