Raccoons are common sights in many neighborhoods, often seen searching for food near human homes. These adaptable creatures, recognized by their distinctive masked faces, frequently inhabit urban and suburban environments. While generally not aggressive towards humans, encounters with raccoons can present potential risks, making it important to understand how to safely coexist with them.
Understanding Raccoon Behavior and Direct Risks
Raccoons typically avoid direct confrontation with humans. Aggression usually arises when a raccoon feels threatened, is cornered, or is protecting its young or a food source. Such situations can prompt a raccoon to defend itself, potentially leading to bites or scratches. Any break in the skin carries a risk of localized bacterial infection if not promptly cleaned and treated.
Healthy raccoons prefer to retreat from human presence, often using vocalizations like hisses or growls as warnings. However, a rabid raccoon may exhibit unprovoked aggression, disorientation, or a lack of fear towards humans, which are signs that warrant extreme caution. It is advisable to maintain distance from any wild animal to prevent situations where they might act defensively.
Diseases Raccoons Carry
Raccoons can carry several diseases transmissible to humans, with rabies being a significant concern. Rabies is a severe viral infection that affects the central nervous system and is almost always fatal once symptoms appear. The virus is primarily transmitted through the saliva of an infected animal, typically via bites or scratches. Raccoons are among the most common terrestrial carriers of the rabies virus in the United States.
Another serious health risk is raccoon roundworm, Baylisascaris procyonis, a parasite residing in the intestines of raccoons. Infected raccoons shed microscopic eggs in their feces, which can become infective to humans after two to four weeks in the environment. Ingestion of these eggs, often from contaminated soil or objects, can lead to a severe condition called Baylisascariasis, where the larvae migrate through the body, potentially causing neurological damage, blindness, or even death. Children are at a higher risk due to their tendency to put hands or objects into their mouths.
Raccoons can also transmit Leptospirosis, a bacterial infection. This bacterium is shed in the urine and secretions of infected raccoons, contaminating soil, water, and surfaces. Humans can contract Leptospirosis through contact with these contaminated sources, especially if there are open wounds or if the bacteria are ingested orally. Symptoms can include fever, muscle aches, and vomiting, and in severe cases, it can lead to kidney or liver failure.
Minimizing Harmful Encounters
Preventing encounters with raccoons largely involves removing attractions around human dwellings. Securing trash cans with locking lids or bungee cords is important, as garbage is a primary food source for urban raccoons. Avoiding leaving pet food or water bowls outdoors, especially overnight, also discourages raccoons from frequenting your property. Raccoons are opportunistic feeders and will exploit readily available food.
Sealing potential entry points into homes, sheds, and outbuildings can prevent raccoons from denning indoors. This includes repairing gaps in foundations, sealing pet doors, and installing chimney caps. Maintaining a tidy yard by removing fallen fruits, keeping grass mowed, and trimming overgrown shrubs can make the area less appealing for raccoons seeking shelter or foraging opportunities. Intentionally feeding raccoons can make them bolder and less wary of humans, increasing the likelihood of unwanted interactions.
Responding to Raccoon Contact
Immediate action is necessary if physical contact with a raccoon, such as a bite or scratch, occurs. Thoroughly wash the wound with soap and warm water for at least five minutes to help reduce the risk of infection. After cleaning, apply an antiseptic solution and cover the wound with a clean bandage. Prompt medical attention is crucial, even for minor injuries, to assess the risk of rabies and other infections.
Report the incident to local animal control or health authorities, as they can determine the appropriate course of action, which may include rabies post-exposure prophylaxis. If there is suspected exposure to raccoon feces, particularly from a raccoon latrine, wear protective gear such as disposable gloves, a mask, and long sleeves. Feces and contaminated materials should be carefully removed, double-bagged, and disposed of properly. For contaminated surfaces, using boiling water or a 10% bleach solution can help inactivate roundworm eggs.