Raccoons are known to eat anything and everything, well almost anything and everything. If they need to, they’ll fish for and find food in your trash cans.
Raccoons will most likely accept anything you feed them, and anything they can find. Knowing this, you may be asking: do raccoons eat other animals? This article looks into it.
Raccoons do eat other animals. Other animals deliver a number of vitamins and minerals into the raccoon’s body, especially protein. Raccoons will eat another animal if the raccoon manages to successfully hunt and kill it. Animals that raccoons eat include fish, crayfish, clams, frogs, snails, birds, insects, small mammals, rats, mice, and squirrels
Table of Contents
Do raccoons eat other animals?
Raccoons eat almost anything, the ability to do this is very beneficial to them. These animals are omnivores, they are able to tear through and eat animal matter, they are also able to grind up plant matter as herbivores and humans do.
They are also opportunistic feeders, this means they will make a meal out of almost anything put in front of them, and they definitely eat other animals
Health benefits of raccoons eating other animals:
Other animals deliver a variety of vitamins and minerals into the raccoon’s body. The main nutrient that other animals can deliver to raccoons is protein.
Protein is an essential nutrient that all animals need. Protein is needed by animals to develop and maintain body tissue, it is also essential for cell regeneration
What other animals do raccoons eat:
Raccoons eating other animals is quite common. They feed on whatever animals are in their surroundings, this is the case whether the raccoon is in the wild or in urban areas.
If they are near bodies of water, they will eat fish, crayfish, clams, frogs, and snails.
If raccoons live in forests they will eat animals present in the forest, this includes birds, bird eggs, insects, small mammals, rats, mice, and squirrels.
If raccoons find themselves in urban areas they will eat rats, mice, and pigeons if they can catch them.
They will even go looking for food in your trash and will eat whatever meat they find in your bin
This article looks more into what animals raccoons eat
How racoons are designed to eat other animals:
Raccoons do not need meat to be cooked for them to be able to eat it. Meat is not cooked in the wild and raccoons eat it with no issue. They are able to eat raw meat because their stomach acids are very strong, strong enough to digest raw meat
These animals are not the most skilled hunters but they will do their best when looking for other animals to eat, Raccoons use their sharp teeth and sharp claws to subdue their prey.
Even so, raccoons like to conserve energy. They will usually go for the meal that needs the least amount of energy to catch. This is usually plants
Will a raccoon kill a cat?
Raccoons and cats can kill each other. Sometimes, a raccoon will attack and kill a cat for sport.
Baby kittens are especially vulnerable to being killed by a raccoon as they are very small and defenseless.
Tip: To avoid raccoons attacking kittens, make sure to keep these small animals indoors at night when raccoons are out.
If a cat and a raccoon get into an altercation, the raccoon will use its long, sharp, and strong claws to cut the cat, even scratching the cat’s eyes.
Because the two are similar in size, they can get into scraps with each other, especially if the cat has an attitude.
If both animals are friendly, then the two can have positive interactions and can even eat side by side
This article explores, in more detail, the phenomenon of raccoons attacking kittens. Click to read more
Can raccoons kill a dog?
Raccoons can kill a dog, dogs can also attack and kill raccoons, it depends on the circumstances.
Smaller, young, and orphaned raccoons will especially be vulnerable to attacks from dogs. Raccoons that are sick, injured, or raccoons that are mothers can also fall prey to dog attacks and be killed by dogs.
Raccoons have strong, sharp, and long claws, these are used to defend themselves against dogs and are used to attack if they need to.
The size of the dog determines whether the raccoon can kill it.
Smaller dogs can be killed by raccoons but larger dogs will have the upper hand because of their size, thus raccoons will likely avoid picking a fight with a dog, especially if the dog is larger
Conclusion
In conclusion, yes raccoons do eat other animals. Raccoons are omnivores, they are able to, and regularly do, eat both plant and animal matter.
Animals that raccoons eat include fish, crayfish, clams, frogs, snails, birds, insects, small mammals, rats, mice, and squirrels
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 petunias?, Do raccoons eat peaches?, Do raccoons eat peanuts?
