What Are Raccoons Scared Of

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Theoretically, raccoons are scared of everything that’s bigger than them. This fear has made them excellent survivalists, but paradoxically enough, it’s also their fearlessness that made them adapt effortlessly to new environments and thrive in some of the most dangerous concrete jungles on Earth.



In fact, it’s probably their fear that made them evolve into such intelligent and resilient creatures. In their original habitat, raccoons came down from their holes in trees or up from their burrows to feed on what they found in the muddy waters of their natural riverbanks. But once dusk settled in, the raccoon wasn’t the only creature that would decide it’s time to take a meal. Other bigger predators were watching. And the raccoon needed to be able to watch back. So by keeping its eyes on the lookout for predators, it constantly used the water to make its front feet finer and finer as if to able to see its food with its hands.

North America’s countryside and cities were the perfect environment for them to keep warm in barns and sheds during cold winters, and for them to use their extraordinary tactile senses and dexterity to eat our food and make their way to various food sources few other animals could get to. It wasn’t long before they learned where are the best places to raise their young, how to open doors, how to solve our obstruction systems, and so on.

Because they’re a nocturnal animal that doesn’t live in groups, and because they always seem to be on their toes about having contact with us, we assume that they are scared of us. They basically don’t have any predators in the city, and with people shooing them at the most, they don’t really have anything to be scared of. If they’re cornered by one of our domestic animals, they’ll fight back heroically, and even attack us if they feel they have no choice. They won’t fear our pets, and will take the food right from under their noses.

It is in their natural instinct to fear everything that’s bigger than them, but urban raccoons are becoming more and more… Well, urban. And it’s our fault. Many of us find them cute and funny, and we decide to feed them, teaching them that there’s no reason to fear us. I agree, they are cute and funny – super intelligent and agile, on top of that – but they’re just awful around a household, not to mention carriers of serious diseases. We need to stop this friendly behavior towards raccoons, and admire them from a distance as we would any other dangerous animal. Otherwise, extremely drastic and unpleasant measures will need to be taken in the near future in order to contain our urban raccoon problem. And they certainly don’t deserve to be exterminated.

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