Yipes! Stripes! Skunks and Raccoons

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Raccoons favor wet habitat: terrain near streams, rivers, lakes and marshes. But the animals have discovered that developed areas near manmade ponds, irrigated fields and storm drains make fine digs, too. In the wild, a hollow log or empty burrow serves as shelter and den. Around humans, raccoons readily adopt not only basements and crawl spaces but — because of their climbing ability — also attics and chimneys. Raccoons in suburbs and cities supplement, if not supplant, their species’ usual berries-nuts-bugs-aquatic diet with easier pickings such as garbage, pet food, restaurant discards and littered fast food.

Unnatural History

Among early European naturalists’ accounts of then-unknown wildlife discovered in the New World were the skunk and raccoon. “Polcats or Skunks in America, are different from those in Europe,” wrote John Lawson in 1709 in A New Voyage to Carolina. “They smell like a Fox, but ten times stronger … When a Dog encounters them, they piss upon him, and he will not be sweet again in a Fortnight or more.” Of the raccoon Lawson observed, “When wild, they are very subtle in catching their Prey. Those that live in the Salt-Water, feed much on Oysters which they love. They watch the Oyster when it opens, and nimbly put in their Paw, and pluck out the Fish.”

But significantly, those reports also included accounts of creatures long since vanished or greatly diminished from their native continental ranges: cougars, wolves, bobcats and others. As land was cleared, settlements established and large predators exterminated, populations of mesopredators — mid-size species such as skunks and raccoons — benefited.

In balance with their natural habitats, skunks and raccoons play important roles as predators in their ecosystems. Even today, they’re significant controllers of agricultural and lawn pests. But while many native species with specialized dietary and habitat requirements have fallen victim to encroaching civilization, skunks and raccoons — adaptable generalists — have flourished.

In many suburban and urban areas, given a bounty of food and shelter, and a lack of predators (including humans) the populations of raccoons and skunks have exploded, reaching densities two or more times that of their country counterparts. So it is that more and more city dwellers are encountering the animals, or at least their crash-bang-bumps in the night. The animals’ excess populations also spill into rural regions, causing a biological ripple effect that impacts countless songbirds, ducks, frogs, geese and a variety of other species — some of which, such as sea turtles, are already endangered or threatened. Plus, of course, their abnormal densities promote the spread of diseases such as distemper and rabies among their own species and, potentially, to others (see “Skunks, Raccoons and Rabies,” below).

Before you condemn skunks and raccoons, though, consider this: We’re the ones who’ve cleared their sheltering forests, destroyed their den sites, polluted their waterways, killed off many of their natural food sources, and otherwise upset the balance of their native environments. The next time a skunk or raccoon comes clambering around your home at night in search of food or shelter, ask yourself: Who’s the real invader?

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