Raccoons are strange animals. They are not like animal groups that we are used to, like dogs and cats and other familial animals. Raccoons are not familiar at all. Like black and brown squirrels they tend to kill each other. They are hyper-aggressive and have a very strange mating ritual. Raccoons are not friendly animals, if you see one leave the area. If one is following you, run. If you see a raccoon rolling around, wobbling or walking in circles call the humane society to pick it up because it has rabies. If a raccoon is constantly visiting your property then find what it’s after and get rid of it. This may be a leaky hose they drink from, a birdbath or food left outside. Dog food, open garbage cans and garbage stored in bags. The smell of compost attracts them and they love a property with some mess as it gives them plenty of places to hide. If you have a raccoon that wanders your property a lot there is a good chance it is living there. They can live in hollow logs and other areas like wild animals but what they want is to get into your attic or under your deck. They can burrow under sheds, under concrete slabs and they will defecate, rip apart your garden and your trash and cause endless issues like raccoon feces. The danger of their feces is due to their habit of eating long dead carcasses left by other animals, they are carry-on feeders. This results in their gut being filled with something called a raccoon roundworm. This parasite does not harm them but can kill any other animal, including humans in a matter of days. The parasite is incurable in even the earliest of stages and cannot be treated in any real way. The symptoms start with sores, roundworms will nest in your skin and organs and when they get to the brain they will begin nesting in that as well. Every organ includes the eyes which are the only thing that can be partially treated with lasers. Otherwise, a bought of the round worm will end in a coma, brain death and destruction of the nervous system. Avoid it at all cost and if you find it on your property and you have pets or children take them to emergency right away.
The life cycle of the raccoon is not complex, but it is very frightening. The raccoon female will find a place to nest, often as described above in a human abode. They will then bring a male mate in and mate with them. This is where things get weird. The female will then violently chase the male out with biting and scratching. The male will vacate in a hurry and the female will collect food for her gestation which can be as long as 70 days. When the young are born they are blind and immobile. This puts them in great danger as when the male raccoon leaves the female den his singular purpose is to find other babies of other male raccoons and kill them. This is how they handle survivability. Kill the other so yours has more access to food. It is dark and scary but it’s how many species live. The female has to take care of the young for up to nine weeks after they are born and even then they do not often leave for several weeks after. If you have a raccoon in your attic or under your deck during the baby season (from March to September often happening earlier with global warming) then you can be sure that once that raccoon mother gives birth getting them out will be harder, more expensive and will take much longer. You are fighting for your home, they are fighting for their children’s lives.