Raccoons are fun animals to track and one of the most useful skills I ever learned to help me do that is finding and identifying raccoon scat.
Raccoon scat is fairly common but it’s also commonly misidentified because it has similar characteristics to the droppings of other animals.
- Many people don’t know how to tell raccoon scat from dog, coyote, fox or even otter scat.
- There are also some important dangers that trackers need to be aware of with raccoon scats because they often contain parasites.
- Getting confident about how to identify raccoon scat goes a long way towards understanding their overall behavior & lifecycle.
- This is a great way to help you predict where to find raccoons (and when to go searching).
So let’s explore some essentials about one of the most common mammals in North America!
Raccoon Scat Identification: What Does Raccoon Scat Look Like?
Raccoon scat is generally made of multiple tubular segments with blunt tips and frequently contains undigested materials like crayfish bones, seeds or fur. The size ranges from 0.3 to 1.2 inches in diameter and 3.5 to 7 inches in length.
Raccoon scats can also sometimes be amorphous when they’ve been eating a lot of fruit. Because of this, you never want to depend solely on the appearance of a scat for identification.
It’s important to consider the entire context including the location, position & habitat where the scat is found.
It’s extremely common to find multiple scats of various ages all together in a single location (see section on raccoon latrines below).
So to give you the best results with identification, let’s take a closer look at which locations are the most likely candidates for finding raccoon scat.
Raccoon Scat Locations: Where To Find Raccoon Scat?
Raccoons follow very particular patterns around where they leave their scats, and this is an important clue for accurate identification.
Most raccoon scats are found at the base of large conifer trees in forests surrounding water like streams or ponds, at an average distance between 220-340 feet from the water.
These scat locations are associated with resting spots where raccoons seek safety during the day, while maintaining easy access to abundant foraging grounds for food like crayfish & frogs.
Alternatively, raccoons are also extremely common in human neighbourhoods where they feed on scraps and anything they can scrounge up.
- Foraging in human environments makes raccoons less dependant on aquatic foraging, but their scats will still commonly be found at the base of large conifers in the nearby area.
- In human settlements, their scats are also sometimes found underneath decks or anywhere they sleep.
- In rocky locations with large overhanging boulders, raccoons will commonly make latrines underneath the overhanging shelter.
- Less common is to find a single raccoon scat on trails going through thick brush between a feeding area and their rest site.
Seeing scat in any of these locations is a good indicator that helps you tell raccoon scat from other types of animals.
Behavior of North American Mammals by Mark Elbroch and Kurt Rinehart has more great information on the behavior of raccoons that can be useful for predicting scat locations.
Do Raccoons Make Latrines?
Raccoons commonly make latrines at the base of resting locations like large conifers and beneath overhanging rocks. These are often used by multiple individuals and likely play a role in communication.
Look for latrines in the forests surrounding water and human neighbourhoods. Check around the base of large dominant coniferous trees, under overhanging rocks & logs, or sometimes around homes/sheds/decks.
Raccoon latrines are used repeatedly and contain numerous scats of a variety of ages, which gives us another great clue for accurate identification of raccoon scat.
How To Discern The Common Lookalikes Of Raccoon Scat
As you can see, confident identification of raccoon scat comes from using multiple identification clues simultaneously including:
- Scat appearance
- Diet
- Location/habitat
- Latrines with multiple scats of different ages
With this background in place, we now have a much more conclusive formula for telling raccoon scat from other types of animals.
Raccoon Scat vs Coyote Scat – While these scats are very similar in size, Coyotes tend to leave their scats at trail junctions & high points on the landscape rather than at the base of trees.
Coyotes are much less dependant on water and human neighbourhoods for foraging than raccoons, so their scats are found in a much wider variety of habitats. Coyote scat frequently also has noticeable tapering at the ends when solid.
Raccoon vs Fox Scat – The differences between fox scat and raccoon are similar to coyotes above in terms of positioning. Fox scats are also noticeably smaller with only a little overlap in the size ranges making these even easier to tell apart.
Raccoon vs Dog Scat – Because of their artificial diet, dog scats have a much more uniform composition lacking seeds, bones or fur. Dog scat is almost always associated with core human areas like trails, roads & yards. Like other Canines, dog scat is commonly left a trail junctions rather than the base of trees.
Raccoon vs Otter Scat – Jonah Evans wrote a great analysis of how to identify raccoon vs otter scats.
He points out that otter scats typically have a very high composition of crayfish, with larger pieces preserved in the scat. Raccoons have a much wider diet that frequently includes plant matter. Otter scats occur directly next to water, while raccoons make latrines on the inland side of trees at rest sites.
A Hazardous Parasite In Raccoon Scat (Baylisascaris Procyonis)
It’s important to know that raccoon scat frequently contains a parasite called Baylisascaris Procyonis. This is a type of ringworm that can be transferred to humans by breathing in airborne eggs around the scat.
For this reason, it’s very important that you know how to identify scat with confidence and to never smell or handle raccoon scat.
If raccoons have gotten into your attic and made a latrine that needs to be cleaned up, it’s always best to contact your local wildlife removal experts and they will know how to help you.
Baylisascaris infections are not very common, but they can be severe so it’s important to exercise caution & awareness.
I’ve met dozens of life-long trackers who regularly encounter raccoon scat on their woods adventures, and none of them have ever gotten sick because they’re aware of the danger and take the necessary caution.
The largest risk is in urban and suburban areas and most cases happen in children under the age of 4. These are locations where raccoon populations are highly interactive with the human environment, alongside populations who are unaware of the risks.
The lesson here is to learn raccoon scat so you can recognize the hazard and how to keep yourself safe. This is an essential survival skill for anyone who spends lots of time in the woods.
With the right knowledge, it’s a great way to learn about raccoons and live in harmony with our wild friends.
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