5 ms·

"Raccoons have since proliferated in Japan, where they have no natural predators" well to be honest, there really isn't predators for them here in Pennsylvania

"Raccoons have since proliferated in Japan, where they have no natural predators" well to be honest, there really isn't predators for them here in Pennsylvania either. Owls 'may' grab a really young one, but honestly cars probably kill way more

Avshalom 9y ago
Yeah I mean I assume something eats raccoons but by and large they seem to be a local Maxima in the food chain. They pretty much outnumber humans in Toronto.
- LeifCarrotson 9y ago
  Coyotes eat racoons all the time out here in rural Michigan. They seem to prefer rabbits, or at least rabbits are louder: whenever I am out in the woods at night camping or just sitting around a campfire, I hear the death screams of a rabbit or three, indicating there are coyotes active. There aren't so many bobcats around anymore to help out, but they'll eat them too. Down here in the lower peninsula, we don't have wolves anymore (and you can tell from the huge number of cars in body shop parking lots from deer collisions), but I assume they'd take a raccoon if they wanted to. The problem, though, is that while the raccoons do fine around humans and even in cities, large predators like coyotes and bobcats don't. And if one does do well, they're exterminated (or, I suppose, sedated and moved out of the city humanely) like the wolves were. I'm sure you have plenty of all these predators in the wilderness outside Toronto up around Algonquin, but in cities and developed areas there are few natural predators.
  - HankB99 9y ago
    >>The problem, though, is that while the raccoons do fine around humans and even in cities, large predators like coyotes and bobcats don't. http://coyotemap.com/ http://coyotemap.com/ We're just to the left of center on that map and see coyotes regularly. But we're suburban. Of more interest to me are the coyotes that live in downtown Chicago.
eloisant 9y ago
They're not raccoons, they're canine called "raccoon dogs" because they look like raccoons. But biologically speaking they have little in common with raccoons.
- jhbadger 9y ago
  No, the article is talking about actual racoons, which were introduced to Japan in the 20th century, not the native tanuki.
- masklinn 9y ago
  The article specifically talks about NA raccoons imported from the US by the thousands as pets following Araiguma Rasukaru[0], not about the native Tanuki. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rascal_the_Raccoon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rascal_the_Raccoon
JoeAltmaier 9y ago
Cars may be enough to stabilize raccoon population. They are territorial. Young ones either replace an older one, or get pushed out of established territories and end up wandering the road (no-raccoons-land). So cars are serving as 'failed raccoon euthenasia'.
- LeifCarrotson 9y ago
  If the raccoon density is high enough that they are pushing out into new territory, the cars have failed to keep the population in check. They can easily reach 20 per square kilometer in areas with enough trash and other food sources, which is a very bad situation for an invasive species.
- technofiend 9y ago
  >They are territorial. You're not kidding. When I bought my house it had sat empty for a couple of years and a family of raccoons had added it to their territory. Closing up vents helped, but once a year or so they'd return and try again. I'm just guessing but I think the mothers would still try to work the metal grating out of the vents when they were pregnant. I didn't really want to kill them and frankly trapping them seemed like a lot of work, plus they had fleas and potentially carry rabies, not to mention possibly having a parasite in their feces. I didn't want to hurt them and I didn't really want to get near them. As with most anything else you can buy the solution on the internet: puma pee. A liberal sprinkling of the foul smelling stuff ran off me, my wife and the raccoons. We can't smell it any more but apparently the raccoons can because they haven't returned.
  - autokad 9y ago
    don't forget ticks w/ lime disease

Avshalom 9y ago

Yeah I mean I assume something eats raccoons but by and large they seem to be a local Maxima in the food chain. They pretty much outnumber humans in Toronto.

LeifCarrotson 9y ago
Coyotes eat racoons all the time out here in rural Michigan. They seem to prefer rabbits, or at least rabbits are louder: whenever I am out in the woods at night camping or just sitting around a campfire, I hear the death screams of a rabbit or three, indicating there are coyotes active. There aren't so many bobcats around anymore to help out, but they'll eat them too. Down here in the lower peninsula, we don't have wolves anymore (and you can tell from the huge number of cars in body shop parking lots from deer collisions), but I assume they'd take a raccoon if they wanted to. The problem, though, is that while the raccoons do fine around humans and even in cities, large predators like coyotes and bobcats don't. And if one does do well, they're exterminated (or, I suppose, sedated and moved out of the city humanely) like the wolves were. I'm sure you have plenty of all these predators in the wilderness outside Toronto up around Algonquin, but in cities and developed areas there are few natural predators.
- HankB99 9y ago
  >>The problem, though, is that while the raccoons do fine around humans and even in cities, large predators like coyotes and bobcats don't. http://coyotemap.com/ http://coyotemap.com/ We're just to the left of center on that map and see coyotes regularly. But we're suburban. Of more interest to me are the coyotes that live in downtown Chicago.

eloisant 9y ago

They're not raccoons, they're canine called "raccoon dogs" because they look like raccoons. But biologically speaking they have little in common with raccoons.

jhbadger 9y ago
No, the article is talking about actual racoons, which were introduced to Japan in the 20th century, not the native tanuki.
masklinn 9y ago
The article specifically talks about NA raccoons imported from the US by the thousands as pets following Araiguma Rasukaru[0], not about the native Tanuki. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rascal_the_Raccoon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rascal_the_Raccoon

JoeAltmaier 9y ago

Cars may be enough to stabilize raccoon population. They are territorial. Young ones either replace an older one, or get pushed out of established territories and end up wandering the road (no-raccoons-land). So cars are serving as 'failed raccoon euthenasia'.

LeifCarrotson 9y ago
If the raccoon density is high enough that they are pushing out into new territory, the cars have failed to keep the population in check. They can easily reach 20 per square kilometer in areas with enough trash and other food sources, which is a very bad situation for an invasive species.
technofiend 9y ago
>They are territorial. You're not kidding. When I bought my house it had sat empty for a couple of years and a family of raccoons had added it to their territory. Closing up vents helped, but once a year or so they'd return and try again. I'm just guessing but I think the mothers would still try to work the metal grating out of the vents when they were pregnant. I didn't really want to kill them and frankly trapping them seemed like a lot of work, plus they had fleas and potentially carry rabies, not to mention possibly having a parasite in their feces. I didn't want to hurt them and I didn't really want to get near them. As with most anything else you can buy the solution on the internet: puma pee. A liberal sprinkling of the foul smelling stuff ran off me, my wife and the raccoons. We can't smell it any more but apparently the raccoons can because they haven't returned.
- autokad 9y ago
  don't forget ticks w/ lime disease