Raccoon Exterminator Waterloo: What do Homeowners need to Know About Raccoons?

A highly distinguished raccoon exterminator Waterloo company will not just help in putting an end to your raccoon infestation problem but they will somehow
educate you also about raccoons, their natural behavior and all. They will agree with me when I say
that it is not typical of raccoons to band together as if they are a community or a group. In the animal
kingdom, they don’t belong to the classification of social animals.

Raccoon Habits Make Them Unique

Raccoons are nocturnal and they are usually asleep during the day. But when winter time comes, they
sleep much longer. However, they are not really hibernating in such a manner that other animals do
during this time of the year. While they are in a very deep slumber, their bodies are consuming their
stored body fats. Due to this, it is natural for raccoons to lose as much as 50% of their total body weight
during winter.

The sheer outward look and appearance of raccoons give us the impression that they are like “outlaws”
but the fact is they are clean animals. One good trait of raccoons is that they wash their food in a
stream or any body of water nearby before they actually eat it. They also make a custom-built latrine in
areas they frequently stay in.

Their Foraging and Eating Habits

Raccoons are omnivores, which means to say that they live by consuming meat and vegetation. In the
wild, they can eat a wide variety of fruits such as persimmons, acorns, berries, cherries, acorns, apples,
plums, citrus fruits, wild grapes, figs, beechnuts, walnuts. As for meat, there is not much variety in their
diet but they tend to consume more of vertebrate meat as opposed to invertebrate animals. Among
their favorite sources of meat include frogs, fish, rodents, crayfish, and bird eggs. When food is scarce,
raccoons will need to rely on its natural wit and resourcefulness in order to survive. They will scavenge
for food scraps found in the human trash or they can also have a keen eye for any animal roadkill.

Raccoon Habitat

While raccoons have been accustomed to making part or areas of human homes their home too, it is
highly recommended to take great caution and care when approaching or being approached by a
raccoon. They can put you in harm’s way because they are good carriers of the rabies virus, and for
that, the danger of you being accidentally bitten by them is high if you will put yourself directly in their
way.  Aside from the rabies virus, most of them are infected with roundworm and leptospira virus, too.

Raccoons are very adaptable animals, and for this reason, they are capable of living in a wide array of
habitats and climates. They can make their custom home in a tree, which is called a den. Aside from
trees, they can also utilize any structure made by man and create a makeshift home out of it such as
abandoned cars, barns, and much more.

Other Important Raccoon Facts

Did you know that raccoons can actually run at about 24 km/hr or 15 mph? And much like felines, which
is highly reputed for their sharp and quick reflexes, raccoons can fall off at a height of about 35 to 40
feet (which is equivalent to 11 to 12 meters), without sustaining any kind of physical damage on their
bodies.  

If you have been inquisitive as to what could be the possible purpose of the “black mask” that raccoons
have on their visage, here is one suggestion made about it. This “black mask” might be helpful to these
critters in such a way that, since their eyes are too sensitive to light, it deflects glare or too much light
away from its eyes. Come night time, this “black mask” helps them to see things clearly through the
dark of the night in the woods.

Whether there is truth in any of these or none at all, one good reason why these animals are good in
scavenging at night is that of their paws. Each of their paws comes with a set of 5 fingers, resembling
that of a human hand. Hence, they have the needed dexterity in scouring through rubbish or piles of
trash when searching for food.

If you find that your raccoon problem is getting beyond tolerable, the best way that you can deal with it
is to seek professional help from a pest management company offering raccoon exterminator Waterloo. You can count on these people to deal with your problem effectively since they have all the needed
expertise and experience about it.