Raccoons can eat a variety of foods, these omnivores are also opportunistic feeders, they will eat whatever plant or animal matter available to them.

That being said, just because they aren’t picky eaters doesn’t mean they can eat anything and everything. With this in mind, you may be asking the question: do raccoons eat onions? This article looks into it 

Raccoons, and a variety of other animals, cannot eat onions. Onions can cause the animal to develop hemolytic anemia. This causes the raccoon’s body to destroy its own red blood cells. This disorder prevents oxygen from getting to the animal’s tissues. 

Do raccoons eat onions?

It is said that raccoons will eat, or try to eat anything that’s put in front of them, this is true to an extent.

There aren’t many foods that raccoons can’t eat, these animals eat fresh fruits and vegetables, animal matter as well as food from the garbage, surprisingly, these animals cannot eat onions

Risks of raccoons eating onions:

Onions may be fine and widely used by humans but they cannot be eaten by raccoons. If raccoons eat onions the animal will develop hemolytic anemia. 

This disorder causes the animal’s own body to attack and destroy its red blood cells. The body sees the red blood cells as foreign objects and destroys them.

Raccoons suffering from this disorder will become very tired very quickly, and their gums will be pale rather than pink.

The lack of red blood cells means that the body’s tissues do not get enough oxygen. This can cause fainting as the brain does not get enough oxygen 

Raccoons will avoid onions:

Raccoons will not eat onions if they are offered this vegetable. Raccoons have learned through the ages that they cannot eat onions.

Generally, if these animals come in contact with a food that they have never eaten before, they will eat a small bit of it and wait to see if they get sick. This isn’t the case with onions, raccoons won’t go near onions

If you’re trying to keep raccoons away then using onions is an affordable and easy way to do so. These animals have a strong sense of smell, and they strongly dislike the smell of onions. This smell of onions irritates their sense of smell. 

To repel raccoons, add a cut-up or blended onion into some boiling water, place this mixture in the area where you want raccoons to keep away from.

This mixture will keep these animals away for a couple of weeks, replace the mixture after the smell has weakened 

What is the best raccoon repellent?

Hot peppers:

Because raccoons have such a superior sense of smell, their sense of smell is easily irritated. In addition to using onions to keep these animals away, you can use hot pepper.

You can place hot pepper sauce or cayenne pepper where you want raccoons to keep away from 

Ammonia:

This is another smell that raccoons hate, you can use this to your advantage.  To do this, spray ammonia around your property or use ammonia-soaked rags where you want raccoons to keep away from 

Loud noises:

Not only are raccoons irritated by strong smells, they also don’t enjoy loud and obnoxious noises.

You can keep raccoons away by placing a small radio where you want raccoons to keep away from 

What wild animals eat onions?

Onions may not be a good food to give to your raccoons but there are a variety of other animals that can eat this food. These animals include 

• Goats 

• Calves

• Monkeys 

• Apes 

• Microorganisms 

What is eating onions in my garden? 

If you’re noticing that there is something eating up your onions look out for slugs.

Signs of slugs eating at your onion plants include chewed-up onion tops, this can sometimes look like it’s been done by a bigger animal.

If you want to catch the slugs in the act, check on your onions at night, this is when slugs feed 

Keep these insects away by placing sharp objects around your onion plants, create a barrier around the onions. 

Snails have very soft bodies, sharp objects can cause harm to them, they avoid areas with sharp objects and will keep away from your onions if surrounded by sharp objects.

You can use something as simple as crushed eggshells to create the barrier

Conclusion 

In conclusion, no raccoons cannot eat onions. Raccoons hate the strong smell that onions give off.

Onions are also toxic to raccoons, if a raccoon eats an onion it can develop hemolytic anemia.

Animals that can eat onions include goats, calves, monkeys, apes, and various microorganisms to name a few.

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 tomatoes?, Do raccoons eat turkeys?, Do raccoons eat insects?, Do raccoons eat onions?