Raccoons are highly adaptable omnivores with a diverse diet, thriving in urban, suburban, and rural areas. This adaptability often leads to questions about their specific dietary habits, such as whether they consume voles.
Raccoons’ Consumption of Voles
Raccoons do consume voles, but these small rodents typically serve as a supplementary or opportunistic food source rather than a primary staple of their diet. They are not particularly agile hunters, often preferring to scavenge deceased rodents or target young, injured, or easily caught individuals. The availability of voles in a given habitat influences how often raccoons might prey on them.
Understanding Raccoon Diet Diversity
Raccoons exhibit a diverse diet, reflecting their opportunistic and omnivorous nature. Their food choices vary significantly based on seasonal availability and environment. In natural settings, raccoons consume plant matter like fruits, berries, nuts, corn, and grains. They also eat animal-based foods such as insects, grubs, crayfish, fish, frogs, and bird eggs.
In urban and suburban areas, raccoons adapt their foraging habits to human environments. They are known for rummaging through trash cans, compost bins, and outdoor pet food bowls for scraps. This flexibility allows them to thrive near human populations, exploiting readily available food sources.
Voles as a Food Source
Voles are small, mouse-like rodents found across the Northern Hemisphere, with many species native to the United States. They typically range from 3 to 9 inches in length. Voles are semi-fossorial, spending significant time underground in complex burrow systems, where they nest and feed on vegetation.
These rodents are prolific breeders, producing multiple litters annually, with 3 to 6 young per litter. This rapid reproduction can lead to high population densities, making them a more accessible food source for predators like raccoons. Voles prefer habitats with dense ground cover, such as grassy fields, meadows, and woodlands, constructing extensive tunnel systems both underground and on the surface.
Implications for Homeowners
For homeowners, understanding that raccoons are opportunistic omnivores and may eat voles offers insights. Raccoons are drawn to areas with easily accessible food sources. Securing trash cans and avoiding leaving pet food outdoors can reduce a property’s attractiveness to raccoons.
While raccoons may help manage vole populations to some extent, they are not a primary solution for extensive infestations. Voles can damage gardens and plants by chewing on roots and girdling trees. Awareness of raccoon foraging habits and vole characteristics can inform strategies for maintaining a less appealing environment.