Do More Raccoons Live in the Urban Areas or the Wild Areas?

An adult Kansas City raccoon is medium sized and it is the largest in the procyonidae family. It is around 24-38 inches lengthwise and can way up to 23 lbs., and sometimes more depending on the availability of food and current habitat. The male is larger than the female.



The Kansas City raccoon is North Americannative and it is in all the parts of the USA with an exception of some parts of Rock Mountains and some of the southwestern states like Arizona, Utah, and Nevada. It is also found in some areas in Mexico and Canada and northern areas of South America. Originally, the Missouri raccoons lived within the tropics and they could be seen foraging along the riverbanks. However as time passed, they were able to move to the northern pats of the continent and theyadapted to the new territories and the diet expanded considerably.

In the most traditional times, the raccoons could live within tree cavities and the burrows only emerging at dusk so as to hunt crustaceans and frogs while staying alert for predators like foxes and coyotes. Migration has also been present to the northern areas where barns have offered some form of comfort and they thrive even in the cold Missouri areas. Originally, the Kansas City species lived in mixed and deciduous forests but the fact that the animal can adapt has made itpossible to move to more habitats from the mountainous terrains and into the large cities.

The first raccoon in an urban setting was sighted in Cincinnati. Today, Kansas City raccoons tend to thrive more in the urbanareas than the wild areas. This is due to the trapping and hunting restrictions that have been imposed. In the city, there is alsogenerally lack of predators posing a danger to the raccoons. The other thing that has aided the great success of Missouri raccoons in urban areas is the fact that there is a lot of food that can sustain them. One of the other contributors to the raccoon’s migration into theurban areas is the fact that farms and the suburban habitat have been expanded even into the areas that are densely forested. The raccoons have been able to adapt to the urban life quite well and they stand amongst the species that are most commonly found within the Missouri towns and cities.

The food supplies in the urban settings have made it possible for the raccoons to do so well. Since they are omnivorous, the Kansas City raccoons are able to eat just about anything from soybeans, vegetables, berries, acorns, small snakes, eggs, mice, cherries, walnuts, beetles, worms, corn, grapes, grasshoppers and crayfish. Missouri raccoons also forage for food whenever necessary.

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