Can humans get raccoon roundworm? Raccoons are the primary host of Baylisascaris procyonis, a roundworm that can be harmful to people. Roundworm eggs are passed in the feces of infected raccoons, and people become infected by ingesting eggs. Anyone who is exposed to environments where raccoons frequent is potentially at risk.
Can baby raccoons survive without their mother? Baby raccoons rely on their mother for a long time. They wean gradually after about 12 weeks in the wild, but remain with her for close to a year, and den with her over their first winter. So, a fluffy little 8 week old, eyes-open baby, although mobile, is still totally dependent.
Raccoons are one of the few extinct species that have profited from the spread of humans. Despite the devastation of much of the creatures' natural habitat over the past few decades, populations in North America have skyrocketed. Raccoons are versatile enough to thrive successfully in suburban, urban, and rural settings. Raccoons scavenge for trash and pet food in residential areas while eating birds, insects, fruits, nuts, and seeds in woodlands. Some raccoons forage in areas where people live and then spend the day sleeping in the woods. Others live in buildings, both occupied and unoccupied.
How do I keep raccoons out of my garden? To keep raccoons at a distance, try scattering blood meal around corn plants. Also try sprinkling wood ashes around your plants. Grind up garlic, mix it with an equal portion of chili powder, and spread it around the garden.
Can a raccoon drown a dog in water? Raccoons may look cute, Jagendorf says, but they're quite capable of defending themselves. Even with two dogs against a single raccoon, the tussle was a standoff. "Later an animal control officer told us that a raccoon can drown a dog in two inches [five centimeters] of water just by holding its nose under water."
In the early 20th century, raccoons were poised to become the go-to model for animal experiments. They were some of the most curious and intelligent animals available, scientists believed, so that meant they were an obvious choice for comparative psychology studies. Though raccoons were the subject of several psychology experiments at the turn of the century, they didn't stick around in labs for long. Unlike rats, they were hard to breed and maintain in large numbers. They also had the pesky tendencies to chew through their cages, pickpocket researchers, and hide out in air vents. Despite one researcher's plan to breed a tamer strain of raccoon, the creature's future in the lab never took off.
More recently, scientists gave the Aesop's Fable test to some raccoons. Researchers have adopted the well-known parable of a crow throwing stones into a pitcher to cause the water level to rise as a benchmark for animal intelligence. Raccoons were put in a space with a water cylinder, marshmallows floating on top, and stones strewn about it. They had to raise the water level first by dumping the stones before they could get to the sweet treats. Two of the eight raccoons imitated the action after being shown how to do it, but a third approached the issue differently and knocked the entire structure over.