---
title: "What the sources say about the Common Raccoon | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "34 claims from the Common Raccoon profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it."
image: "https://animaltracks.wiki/images/animals/raccoon-1.webp"
canonical: "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/raccoon/sources/"
---

# What the sources say about the Common Raccoon (*Procyon lotor*)

> 34 claims from the Common Raccoon profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it. A "..." marks a cut in a quote and [brackets] an insertion.

Profile: [Common Raccoon](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/raccoon/)

## Procyon lotor. Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan.

https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Procyon_lotor/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| measures 24 to 37 inches long, and its ringed tail makes up about 42 to 52 percent of that length | Body length ranges from 603 to 950 mm. Their tails comprise about 42% to 52% of their length, from 192 to 405 mm. (note: 24 and 37 inches from ADW's own conversion line (Range length 603.0 to 950.0 mm, 23.74 to 37.40 in), rounded; the tail is a share of this length, so it is total length. 'ringed' from SDZ: 'the tail has 5 to 7 complete dark rings') |
| Native to southern Canada, most of the United States and northern South America, it has also been introduced to parts of Europe and Asia | Raccoons are found across southern Canada, throughout most of the United States, and into northern South America. They have been introduced to parts of Asia and Europe and are now widely distributed there as well. |
| It is an opportunistic omnivore whose diet can include crayfish, frogs, acorns, bird eggs, corn, roadkill and trash | Procyon lotor is omnivorous and opportunistic. In some habitats plants provide a larger percentage of a raccoon's diet than animals do. Plant foods vary from fruits to nuts, including wild grapes, cherries, apples, persimmons, berries, and acorns. ... In some areas, corn is the most important item in their diet ... Crayfish, insects, rodents, frogs, fish, and bird eggs are all possible components of a raccoon's diet. Raccoons have adapted to include trash and other food available in suburban and urban areas in their diet. Some raccoons eat carrion from roadkilled animals. (note: 'can include' carries the source's 'possible components' and 'some raccoons') |
| Animal Diversity Web describes the forepaws as "especially sensitive," letting a raccoon handle and pry open prey and climb with ease | Their human-like forepaws are especially sensitive and enable the raccoon to handle and pry open prey and climb with ease. |
| It's a strong swimmer, though it may be reluctant to swim: without waterproof fur, swimming forces it to take on extra weight | raccoons are strong swimmers, although they may be reluctant to do so. Without waterproof fur, swimming forces them to take on extra weight. |
| Woodlands and farmland from southern Canada to northern South America, plus suburbs and cities | Raccoons are found across southern Canada, throughout most of the United States, and into northern South America ... Raccoons prefer to live in moist woodland areas. However, they can also be found in farmlands, suburban, and urban areas. (note: stats.habitat, combines the range and habitat clauses) |
| Omnivorous: crayfish, fruit, insects, eggs, carrion, garbage | Crayfish, insects, rodents, frogs, fish, and bird eggs are all possible components of a raccoon's diet. Raccoons have adapted to include trash and other food available in suburban and urban areas in their diet. Some raccoons eat carrion from roadkilled animals. (note: stats.diet, a keyword list of possible diet items, read as 'can include'; 'fruit' from the plant-foods paragraph (wild grapes, cherries, apples, persimmons, berries); 'some raccoons' on carrion is a list-of-possible-items paraphrase) |
| works with its hands | They usually pick up food with their front paws before putting it in their mouth. (note: task #717; vibe.reason) |
| dangerLevel: Medium | Negative Impacts injures humans carries human disease (note: task #717; Medium is 'Can injure, but rarely seriously'. ADW flags 'injures humans'; SDZ: 'raccoon-to-human transmission of rabies is exceedingly rare'. Nothing cached reports a death, so not Deadly, and a bite from a 5 to 16 kg animal is not High's cornered-predator danger) |

## Raccoon. San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance.

https://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/raccoon

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| weighs 12 to 35 pounds (5 to 16 kilograms) | Weight: 12 to 35 pounds (5 to 16 kilograms). (note: SDZ is the current page; ADW's 2001 range (1.8 to 10.4 kg) is older and not used) |
| In the wild a raccoon's life span is two to three years; in managed care it can reach 20 | 2 to 3 years; up to 20 years in managed care. (note: SDZ is the current source; ADW's older 'average 5 years wild, up to 16 wild, 21 captivity' figures are dropped per the Check the date rule (ADW page last updated 2001-03-03)) |
| Its scientific name, *lotor*, means "the washer," | Their latin name lotor means "the washer." |
| San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance says the raccoon's dexterity "has proved no match for combination locks on dumpsters or fastened windows." | Their superior dexterity has proved no match for combination locks on dumpsters or fastened windows. |
| It also calls raccoons one of the few native North American animals that have not been restricted by urbanization and human development: they have adapted to living with and near humans. | Raccoons are one of the few native North America wildlife that have not been restricted by urbanization and human development. They have adapted to living with and near humans. |
| San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance calls raccoons "highly intelligent and curious" and says combination locks on dumpsters and fastened windows have proved no match for their dexterity. | Raccoons are highly intelligent and curious. Their superior dexterity has proved no match for combination locks on dumpsters or fastened windows. (note: FAQ 3 answer) |
| Even the English name points at the hands: "raccoon" is adapted from a Powhatan word meaning "animal that scratches with its hands." | The English word “raccoon” is an adaptation of a Powhatan word meaning “animal that scratches with its hands.” (note: FAQ 3 answer) |
| a nocturnal forager | These nocturnal foragers use lightning-quick paws to grab crayfish, frogs, and other aquatic creatures. (note: task #717; vibe.reason) |
| tags: nocturnal | Raccoons are nocturnal and are rarely active during the day. (note: task #717; ADW agrees: 'Raccoons are nocturnal and seldom active in the daytime.') |

## Raccoon. SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Adirondack Ecosystem.

https://www.esf.edu/aec/adks/mammals/raccoon.php

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| the raccoon's tendency to handle food in water "is not related to a need to wet or wash them," and many foods are eaten unmoistened | the tendency for this mammal to manipulate food items in water is not related to a need to wet or wash them; in fact, many foods are consumed unmoistened |
| Much of the activity probably serves to locate, capture, identify and orient food, placing it in the mouth | Much of the activity probably functions in locating, capturing, identifying, and orienting (placing in the mouth) food |
| Fingertip Forager The toes of a raccoon's front feet are long and slender, with a highly developed sense of touch that plays a large role in how it gathers plant and animal foods. | The toes of the front feet of the raccoon are not only long and slender, but they also possess a highly developed sense of touch, and play large role in the raccoon's harvest of plant and animal foods. |
| A raccoon climbs down a tree head-first by rotating its hind feet, and runs at 10 to 15 miles an hour, a pace it does not usually keep up for long | Their speed while running is about 16-24 km/h (10-15 mph), a pace they do not usually maintain for long ... Raccoons, by rotating their hind feet, can descend from trees head-first (note: quote fragments in the source's own order; the text states them in reverse) |
| Not for hygiene. SUNY's College of Environmental Science and Forestry calls the notion that a raccoon washes or must moisten its food a myth, and notes that its salivary glands are well developed. The college says much of the handling probably helps it find, catch and identify food. | The notion that a raccoon washes or must moisten food is a myth. Salivary glands are well-developed ... Much of the activity probably functions in locating, capturing, identifying, and orienting (placing in the mouth) food (note: FAQ 1 answer, all three sentences) |
| the toes of a raccoon's front feet are long and slender, with a highly developed sense of touch | The toes of the front feet of the raccoon are not only long and slender, but they also possess a highly developed sense of touch (note: task #717; vibe.reason) |

## Timm et al. (2016). Procyon lotor. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T41686A45216638.

https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2016-1.rlts.t41686a45216638.en

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Least Concern | Least Concern (note: stats.conservationStatus; category read through GBIF's copy of the Red List (assessed 2015, published 2016) per docs/fact-check.md's IUCN method -- short quote is expected for this check) |

## Jardim-Messeder et al. (2017). Dogs Have the Most Neurons, Though Not the Largest Brain: Trade-Off between Body Mass and Number of Neurons in the Cerebral Cortex of Large Carnivoran Species. Frontiers in Neuroanatomy.

https://doi.org/10.3389/fnana.2017.00118

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| A 2017 study that counted the neurons in the brains of eight carnivoran species | we determine the cellular composition of the brain of eight carnivoran species (ferret, banded mongoose, raccoon, domestic cat, domestic dog, striped hyena, lion, and brown bear) (note: 2017 from the reference's own year field (paper published 2017)) |
| found that the raccoon stands out | The raccoon also stands out in its number of cortical neurons |
| Its cerebral cortex and a house cat's weigh a similar 24 grams, but the study's raccoons averaged 438 million cortical neurons against its one cat's 250 million. One raccoon carried 512 million, more than one of the study's two dogs. | the mass of the cerebral cortex in both raccoon and cat is a similar 24 g, the raccoon cerebral cortex has an average 438 million neurons compared to 250 million neurons in the cat ... the one with the most neurons in the cerebral cortex was a golden retriever dog (627 million neurons), followed by the lion (545 million neurons), one of the raccoons (512 million neurons), the striped hyena (495 million neurons), a smaller dog of unspecified breed (429 million neurons) and a second raccoon individual (395 million neurons) (note: Methods: 'raccoon ( Procyon lotor, n = 2), cat ( Felis catus, n = 1), dog ( Canis familiaris, n = 2)'. The raccoon figure is the paper's average, the cat figure one animal; 512M beats only the smaller dog (429M), not the golden retriever (627M)) |
| The raccoon's cortical neurons are packed about three times as densely as expected for a non-primate mammal with that many, approaching the densities found in primate cortices. | the raccoon has an average neuronal density in the cerebral cortex that is about three times the expected for a non-primate mammal with its number of neurons in the cerebral cortex, approaching neuronal densities found in primate cortices |
| A 2017 neuron-counting study found the raccoon has more neurons in its cerebral cortex than expected for a non-primate mammal of its cortical mass, approaching the relationship expected for a primate. Its raccoons averaged 438 million cortical neurons; its one house cat, with a cortex of similar mass, had 250 million. | the mass of the cerebral cortex in both raccoon and cat is a similar 24 g, the raccoon cerebral cortex has an average 438 million neurons compared to 250 million neurons in the cat ... the raccoon has more neurons in its cerebral cortex than expected for a non-primate mammal of its cortical mass, approaching the relationship expected for a primate (note: FAQ 2 answer; 2017 from the reference's own year field; one cat per Methods (Felis catus, n = 1)) |
| A cat-sized brain with near-primate neuron density, paired with forepaws that have a highly developed sense of touch | the raccoon has an average neuronal density in the cerebral cortex that is about three times the expected for a non-primate mammal with its number of neurons in the cerebral cortex, approaching neuronal densities found in primate cortices (note: stats.superpower; 'cat-sized brain' from vanderbilt-neurons-2017 ('a brain the size of a cat's'); forepaw clause from esf-raccoon ('possess a highly developed sense of touch')) |
| whose touch-tuned forepaws do its foraging and whose cat-sized brain packs its neurons at near-primate density | approaching neuronal densities found in primate cortices (note: tagline; 'cat-sized brain' from vanderbilt-neurons-2017 ('a brain the size of a cat's'); forepaws from esf-raccoon ('possess a highly developed sense of touch, and play large role in the raccoon's harvest of plant and animal foods')) |

## Sorry, Grumpy Cat: Study finds dogs are brainier than cats. Vanderbilt University Research News.

https://news.vanderbilt.edu/2017/11/29/grumpy-cat-study-dogs/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| "They have a fairly small brain but they have as many neurons as you would expect to find in a primate," Suzana Herculano-Houzel, the study's senior author, told Vanderbilt University's research office, "and that's a lot of neurons." | "They have a fairly small brain but they have as many neurons as you would expect to find in a primate … and that's a lot of neurons." (note: attribution split around the quote; 'senior author' because Herculano-Houzel is the last and corresponding (*) author in the paper's author list (Jardim-Messeder ... Manger Paul R 7 Herculano-Houzel Suzana 8 9 10 *), and the release says 'Herculano-Houzel and her collaborators') |
| There is some brain science behind it. | the number of neurons in their cerebral cortex: the “little gray cells” associated with thinking, planning and complex behavior —all considered hallmarks of intelligence (note: FAQ 2 lead-in) |