Dogs will poop anywhere and everywhere, cleaning after your dog can be a job in itself, the poop can also be quite irritating for the people who step in it.

You as a pet owner are ultimately responsible for your dog’s poop, whether they poop in and around your home or whether they poop while you’re out and about. Thankfully, some animals will eat dog poop, so, do raccoons eat dog poop? This article looks into it.

Raccoons do not eat dog poop, raccoons do not see dog poop as food. Dog poop contains a variety of bacteria that can cause the raccoon to become ill. Only a few animals, like dung beetles and rodents, will eat dog poop. 

Do raccoons eat dog poop?

Raccoons have a habit of raiding trash cans at night, they will eat almost anything in an order to survive.

They are opportunistic feeders, eating not only fresh fruits and vegetables but also eating foods that many of us would consider unsavory, like foods from the trash.

These animals may eat dog food but they will not eat dog poop. 

Why raccoons can’t eat dog poop:

Raccoons may be opportunistic feeders, but they will only eat something if they conclude that it is food. Before a raccoon decides to eat something, it will smell and assess what it is.

Raccoons have an advanced sense of smell. They have also evolved over time to be able to, likely than not, correctly determine what is food and what is not. If a raccoon smells dog poop it will leave the poop alone.

Dog poop can only be eaten by a handful of animals, raccoons are not one of them. Dog poop can be very dangerous to animals that try to eat it. One gram of dog poop can contain 23 million bacteria.

If eaten, dog poop can give animals tapeworm, giardiasis, whipworms, salmonellosis, hookworms, cryptosporidiosis, parvo, and campylobacteriosis.

Raccoons have strong stomach acids, these stomach acids may be strong enough to kill a variety of bacteria, but they are not immune to all types of bacteria.

There are a variety of foods that raccoons can’t eat. This article is a more in-depth look at what raccoons can’t eat

What animals eat dog feces? 

Raccoons don’t eat dog poop but there are still some animals that will. Even in this digested state, dog poop still contains a good amount of nutrients.

Animals that are desperate and looking for food will seek out and eat dog poop. Animals that eat dog poop include: 

Other dogs:

Dogs don’t only eat dog food, young dogs may also eat their own poop or the poop of other dogs. These dogs do this because they watch and do what their mothers do.

It is not uncommon for a mother dog to eat her babies’ feces after they are born. Young dogs see this and mimic their mother 

Rodents:

These animals are similar to raccoons in that they will eat almost anything. Rodents will even eat dog poop, some say that rodents, like rats and mice, will be drawn to your gardens if there is dog poop available.

Then again, rodents eat food out of desperation so dog poop may not be first on their list of foods to look for and eat. 

Dung beetles:

These animals are known for eating dung, surprisingly, not all dung beetles will eat dung but a good majority of them will. These animals are attracted to animal waste, including waste from your dog.

They will happily feed on any dog droppings they can find. 

Are raccoons afraid of dogs? 

Dogs come in different shapes, sizes, and aggression levels, whether a raccoon will be afraid of a dog depends on the size of the dog and how aggressive the canine is towards the raccoon.

Larger dogs will be perceived as predators by a raccoon, the raccoon will be afraid of it. Smaller dogs, and dogs that do not show that much aggression towards the raccoon, will not be perceived as a threat by the raccoon.

However, even though a raccoon may be smaller and seem less aggressive than a dog, it can still hold its own if they get into an altercation.

In fact, they will use their strong and sharp claws and teeth to inflict injuries on the dog. 

Conclusion 

In conclusion, no, raccoons do not eat dog poop.

Raccoons may be opportunistic feeders but they do not see dog poop as food, they will rather eat something else than try to eat dog poop.

Animals that will indulge in dog poop include rodents, other dogs, and dung beetles. 

If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other raccoon related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: Do raccoons eat dog food?, Do raccoons eat deer?, Do raccoons eat dead animals?