By: Rebecca Capozzi | Staff Writer
As many students have recently noticed, raccoons have been making themselves at home around campus. These animals can be quite dangerous, as most people know. But knowing how to properly handle a raccoon encounter can make being around them much less dangerous.
According to havahart.com- a website that sells wild animal related products and provides information about wild animals- raccoons live in “heavily wooded areas with access to trees, water and abundant vegetation.” They can make their homes in “man-made structures like attics, sewers, barns and sheds.” Although there is not too much vegetation here on campus, there are definitely many man-made structures. No, this does not mean that raccoons are living in your dorm. However, they will make a den anywhere and everywhere that they can. The video below shows just how adaptable raccoons can be.
Video courtesty of Kiely Callahan
Raccoons have what is called an “opportunistic diet”. They will eat anything that they can get their hands on. According to pbs.org, when a raccoon is in their natural habitat, they will eat “fruits, plants, nuts, berries, insects, rodents, frogs, eggs, and crayfish.” These are not common things found on campus. Therefore, you will find raccoons near the garbage cans and dumpsters eating our DoorDash leftovers.
Many of the raccoons that we see here on campus are healthy. According to humane wildlife website skedaddlewildlife.com, “a healthy raccoon will look busy as they are very active and intelligent.” Fortunately, the raccoons on our campus act just like this. However, if you see raccoon that appears to be sick, is foaming at the mouth, making weird noises, looks confused, disoriented, slow, or has difficulty walking it is definitely unhealthy and you should steer clear. Either way, no one should be approaching any raccoon whether it looks healthy or not. Learn a lesson from Buddy the Elf; trying to hug a raccoon is never a good idea.
Although raccoons being on campus is ultimately inevitable, there are ways to avoid them from coming close to where students are. Here are some precautions provided by thespruce.com- a home maintenance website- to help avoid interactions with raccoons:
- Don’t feed raccoons. The more they are fed by humans, the less scared they will be of them.
- Keep garbage out of reach for raccoons. They will find a way to dig into any garbage, even if you think it is secured.
- Keep doors secured. Raccoons are smart, so any space that they think they can get into, they will.
Raccoons are not going to mess with you unless you mess with them. So, if you stay away from a raccoon, they will (hopefully) stay away from you!
