- Raccoons will eat just about anything. Although
this statement is generally true, raccoons do have definite preferences.
Generally speaking, they like peanuts, sweets, fruits, bread, peanut
butter, and especially cat and dog food. Like feeding humans, though, don't
overload them with treats -- make those for special occasions, and leave
the healthier stuff for most of the time.
- Don't feed raccoons by hand! They sure are cute,
there's not a hardened soul anywhere in the world who could deny that.
And not only are they cute, they're genuinely wonderful animals. But I
discourage you from feeding wild raccoons by hand.
A raccoon may bite you quite accidentally, mistaking a finger for food;
or, he may bite you on purpose if he thinks you're taking his food away
from him. No matter what the reason is, once it's happened you're both
in trouble, because you'll have to be tested for rabies, and the local
health authorities will want to capture the raccoon who bit you and cut
off his head to test him for rabies. If they can't find the
one who bit you (and what are the chances they will?) they'll most
likely just grab any raccoon they can find and test him. Either way you
look at it, you have to get nasty rabies treatments, and a raccoon loses
his life. It's just not worth it.
- Don't let the raccoons get used to your handouts
This tip is harder to live by than the others, because you'll soon find
you love the company of your little night visitors. But you shouldn't
get used to feeding them every single night. For their sake, and yours,
you should try to stagger the nights you leave food out, so they're
never sure when there will be food and when there won't. Raccoons are
incredibly good problem solvers, so try not to make it a pattern.
This way, when you're away on vacation, they won't tear into
your house to find out why you forgot to leave food out for them. Which
leads me to another point...
- Don't associate your house proper with the food you leave
out. When you put out food, it's tempting to put it out on
your doorstop or porch. A lot of people do this, and in most cases that's
fine. But some raccoons are more adventurous than others. If you're
not careful, they may come to recognize your house as the
source of their food. If you move out or go on vacation, the frustrated
raccoons may very well invite themselves inside to find out why you've
gone. It's safer, though not strictly necessary, to put the food a good
distance away from your house.
- Put out several plates of food to avoid fights.
It's usually a good idea to put a few dishes out, if you're going to
feed, so there aren't too many territorial squabbles over the food.
For the most part, raccoons are quite happy to share with each other
(and other animals) IF there's enough to go around.
- If your neighbors may object, ASK them! Not all of
us are lucky enough to live in a rural setting deep in the woods. If
you leave out food for raccoons, you risk attracting them to the area of
your neighbors' yards as well as your own. If you don't want to get
into hot water with your neighbors, ask them if they mind having the
raccoons around. MOST of the time, there will be no problems -- if your
neighbor keeps his garbage cans tightly sealed and doesn't leave out
food, he'll remain totally unmolested, unless you've got REALLY
spectacularly adventurous raccoons.
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