Do Raccoons Eat Squirrels? (Unveiling The Omnivorous Nature Of Raccoons)

Raccoons and squirrels are common animals found in different parts of the world, and they are both known to be opportunistic feeders. Raccoons are mostly known to feed on any food they find available to them, as they feed on small animals.

Do Raccoons Target Squirrels As Their Primary Food Source?

Raccoons will not just hunt for squirrels, and a significant reason why raccoons will hunt for squirrels is when they are hungry and have no other food source. 

In a nutshell, squirrels are not a primary food source for raccoons; they will prefer to eat or feed on other food than prey on squirrels.

This will take to answer what other animals and food sources raccoons eat. They mainly feed on small mammals and plants; they also eat nuts and fruits and forage for food in trash or garbage cans, dumpsters, and any other food source they can get.

How Raccoons Hunt Squirrels

A full-grown squirrel is known to usually outrun a raccoon, which means it can be challenging for a raccoon to get a squirrel. Squirrels are also good tree climbers, which means they can use the tree as an escape from raccoons. 

Squirrels have a speed of about 20 mph, and raccoons have a rate of about 15 mph; for this reason, adult raccoons will find it hard to keep up with squirrels.

Also, squirrels are much more agile than raccoons, making it more challenging for an adult raccoon to catch and gobble an adult squirrel. Raccoons can only eat a squirrel if there’s a nest of baby squirrels or an injured species and cannot escape, or if the squirrel is dead. 

When a raccoon is about to hunt a squirrel, they do so intelligently by not running after them because they know squirrels are faster than they are. They hunt for squirrels by going slowly towards them, and when they find it possible to track them, they catch them and feed on them. 

But it is essential to know that raccoons won’t just hunt for squirrels; they do so when they don’t have any other food around, and they are hungry.

Do Squirrels Carry Diseases?

Squirrels should not be seen as home animals; they are carrier of different diseases that can tamper with the health of a raccoon. For your information, if squirrels have rabies, they can be dangerous. Squirrels are carriers of conditions, but it’s only a few of them that can transmit it to humans.

Also, squirrels can be a carrier of parasites, which can be left behind on your properties and make you and your pets vulnerable. Squirrels can carry parasites such as ticks, mites and fleas.

What Diseases Do Squirrels Carry?

After we have established that squirrels can carry diseases and also pests. Let’s check explicitly the diseases carried by Squirrels.

Rabies

These diseases don’t usually affect rodents, but it is not impossible for them not to be a carrier. They can transmit this disease through biting or scratching. This disease can make a squirrel dangerous, thereby attacking other animals.

Salmonellosis

This is a disease caused by bacteria and can cause diarrhoea, abdominal pains and even fevers.

Lyme disease

squirrels can carry ticks, and ticks can be a carrier of Lyme disease. Some symptoms of this disease include nerve pain, stiffness, and inflammation.

Leptospirosis

This is another disease caused by bacteria, and they may cause headache, vomiting, jaundice, fever, or rash.

Tularemia

This is another infectious disease that can attack the skin, lungs, lymph nodes and eyes.

Are Raccoons And Squirrels Enemies?

Raccoons and Squirrels are not enemies, but the latter can be a portion of food to the former, and mostly the juveniles of squirrels. Since Raccoons are omnivorous animals, they can eat different types of animals like rats, mice, frogs, birds, and raccoons hardly target squirrels for their day-to-day diet.

Because they are not enemies, evidence has shown that both animals don’t engage in direct fights. This is because raccoons are more giant than squirrels and can be more aggressive, so squirrels love to stay away for their interest and safety.

The two animals also are known to have similar diets, which makes it unlikely for them to compete for food resources.

How To Protect Squirrels From Raccoons

Since squirrels are prey to Raccoons, it can be advisable to find a way to protect squirrels because they are an essential part of many ecosystems and are not to be considered pests. If you want to save squirrels in your area, there are some steps you can take.

First, find a way to secure any bird feeders or pet food that can attract raccoons to your yard. This is because raccoons have good smelling abilities, and the smell of food can lead to raccoon invasion and can endanger a squirrel’s life. 

Ensure you secure different food sources that can reduce the invasion of raccoons from preying on squirrels.

Another way to protect squirrels is to reduce or avoid killing or trapping squirrels unnecessarily. By doing so, you will retain their benefits in the ecosystem and not kill them needlessly.

As much as raccoons occasionally feed on squirrels, it is not a significant threat to their population, and that should not raise so much concern. 

Because raccoons are skilled hunters and can feed on animals such as squirrels, they may also be of help in controlling the population of squirrels in your yard or environment as they prey on sick or weak squirrels.

So, for you to be able to protect squirrels from raccoons, you need to take the necessary steps that will reduce the likelihood of raccoons preying on the rodents.