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Description
The Raccoon (Procyon lotor) is a medium-sized mammal native to North America. Its fur is gray to brown, with a black mask surrounding its eyes and white fur on the outside of the mask, around its nose and a stripe running from its nose to its forehead. It has a ringed, bushy, tail and five toes of each of its black paws. Its paws resemble human hands to some extent. Their toes, being flexible, help it to grab, hold and pull things apart. The raccoon is an excellent climber and is able to descend a tree face first or backwards. The raccoon is a native of North America and lives throughout the United States, as well as parts of Mexico, Canada, and the north of South America. In the 20th century it was introduced elsewhere in the world and now is common in Russia, Germany and Japan. Raccoons are able to live in a wide range of habitats from cold grasslands to warm, tropical areas. They need to be close by water and prefer to inhabit moist woodland area, but also live in farmland, suburban, and urban areas.

Diet and Nutrition: The raccoon is an omnivore and what it eats depends greatly on its environment. It will commonly eat fruits, plants, nuts, berries, rodents, frogs, eggs, insects and crayfish. In an urban setting it will sift through garbage for food. Most of its diet is invertebrates and plants.

Social: In the wild, raccoons may live solitarily or in loose sex-based fission-fusion groups depending on feeding grounds, the availability of water sources and overall population density.

Size: Shoulder height is between 9 and 12 inches, length is 24 to 37.5 inches and weigh 10 to 60 pounds, but usually between 10 to 30 pounds. The largest wild raccoon was 55 inches in length and weigh 62.6 pounds.

Description
The Raccoon (Procyon lotor) is a medium-sized mammal native to North America. Its fur is gray to brown, with a black mask surrounding its eyes and white fur on the outside of the mask, around its nose and a stripe running from its nose to its forehead. It has a ringed, bushy, tail and five toes of each of its black paws. Its paws resemble human hands to some extent. Their toes, being flexible, help it to grab, hold and pull things apart. The raccoon is an excellent climber and is able to descend a tree face first or backwards. The raccoon is a native of North America and lives throughout the United States, as well as parts of Mexico, Canada, and the north of South America. In the 20th century it was introduced elsewhere in the world and now is common in Russia, Germany and Japan. Raccoons are able to live in a wide range of habitats from cold grasslands to warm, tropical areas. They need to be close by water and prefer to inhabit moist woodland area, but also live in farmland, suburban, and urban areas.

Diet and Nutrition: The raccoon is an omnivore and what it eats depends greatly on its environment. It will commonly eat fruits, plants, nuts, berries, rodents, frogs, eggs, insects and crayfish. In an urban setting it will sift through garbage for food. Most of its diet is invertebrates and plants.

Social: In the wild, raccoons may live solitarily or in loose sex-based fission-fusion groups depending on feeding grounds, the availability of water sources and overall population density.

Size: Shoulder height is between 9 and 12 inches, length is 24 to 37.5 inches and weigh 10 to 60 pounds, but usually between 10 to 30 pounds. The largest wild raccoon was 55 inches in length and weigh 62.6 pounds.