Animal Diversity Web

Ge­o­graphic Range

Pro­cyon can­crivorus is found from Costa Rica through east­ern and west­ern Paraguay, Uruguay, and into north­ern Ar­gentina. Its range over­laps with that of north­ern rac­coons in Costa Rica and Panama. (De La Rosa and Nocke, 2000; Eisen­berg and Red­ford, 1999)

• Biogeographic Regions
• neotropical
  • native

Habi­tat

Pro­cyon can­crivorus and P. lotor are very sim­i­lar and closely re­lated. Both species can be found in a va­ri­ety of habi­tats, in­clud­ing pri­mary and sec­ondary growth for­est. Pro­cyon can­crivorus makes use of habi­tats rang­ing from the for­est of Ilanos, to the xeric chaco veg­e­ta­tion, and even the Ama­zon rain­forests. As long as there are water, food, and places to hide and den, this rac­coon will adapt. How­ever, P. can­crivorus seems some­what more re­stricted than P. lotor in habi­tat pref­er­ences. Pro­cyon can­criv­o­rous oc­cu­pies areas around bod­ies of water, such as swamps, lakes, la­goons, and ocean beaches. Where both species over­lap, crab-eat­ing rac­coons mainly oc­cupy lands sur­round­ing in­land rivers, whereas north­ern rac­coons oc­cupy swamps and beaches.

This species is gen­er­ally found at lower el­e­va­tions. (De Fa­tima, et al., 1999; De La Rosa and Nocke, 2000; Eisen­berg and Red­ford, 1999)

• Habitat Regions
• tropical
• terrestrial

• Terrestrial Biomes
• forest
• rainforest

• Wetlands
• swamp

• Other Habitat Features
• riparian

Phys­i­cal De­scrip­tion

Crab-eat­ing rac­coons are noc­tur­nal, om­niv­o­rous/fru­giv­o­rous an­i­mals. Body weights range from 3 to 7 kg. Body lengths are re­ported as being be­tween 54 and 65 cm, with the tail com­pris­ing 25 to 38 cm of the total length. Males tend to be larger than the fe­males.

Pro­cyon can­crivorus is smaller than P. lotor, which helps to dis­tin­guish the two species. Male north­ern rac­coons weigh from 7 to 8.3 kg, with the fe­males weigh­ing from 5.1 to 7.1 kg.

The neck fur of crab-eat­ing rac­coons slants for­ward to­wards the head. These an­i­mals ap­pear thin­ner than P. lotor due to the lack of un­der­fur, an adap­ta­tion to the warmer cli­mates it oc­cu­pies. The black mask of P. can­crivorus fades be­hind the eyes, un­like the north­ern species, which has a mask that ex­tends al­most to the ears. Pelage of P. can­crivorus is a fairly uni­form brown dor­sally, mak­ing it eas­ily dis­tin­guish­able from the more griz­zled ap­pear­ance of P. lotor. The legs and feet of P. can­crivorus are dark brown and slen­der in ap­pear­ance com­pared to the white forelegs and whitish-brown hind legs of P. lotor. The tail makes up ap­prox­i­mately 60% of the body length in P. lotor, but only 50% in P. can­crivorus.

Den­tal For­mula: I 3/3, C 1/1, P 4/4, M 2/2 = 40 teeth (De Fa­tima, et al., 1999; De La Rosa and Nocke, 2000; Eisen­berg and Red­ford, 1999; Feld­hamer, et al., 2003)

Not much is known on the BMR of crab-eat­ing rac­coons. How­ever, there is ad­e­quate in­for­ma­tion on the north­ern species, P. lotor. North­ern rac­coons have a higher mass-spe­cific BRM than other pro­cy­onids, which ex­plains why this species has a more wide­spread dis­tri­b­u­tion. Their meta­bolic rates do not vary sea­son­ally. Both males and fe­males tend to lose or gain weight among sea­sons, gain­ing in the win­ter and los­ing in the sum­mer. (De Fa­tima, et al., 1999; De La Rosa and Nocke, 2000; Eisen­berg and Red­ford, 1999)

• Other Physical Features
• endothermic
• homoiothermic
• bilateral symmetry

• Sexual Dimorphism
• male larger

• Range mass

  3.0 to 7.0 kg

  6.61 to 15.42 lb

• Range length

  54 to 65 cm

  21.26 to 25.59 in

• Average basal metabolic rate

  2.588 W

  AnAge

Re­pro­duc­tion

Males are polyg­y­nous, mat­ing with sev­eral fe­males in suc­ces­sion, but fe­males re­ject other males once they are im­preg­nated. Both sexes are ma­ture after a year. How­ever, younger males usu­ally do not breed be­cause they can not com­pete with larger, older males. (Eisen­berg and Red­ford, 1999; Nowak, 1999)

• Mating System
• polygynous

Pro­cyon can­crivorus breeds once per year be­tween July and Sep­tem­ber. The es­trous cycle has been es­ti­mated to last 80 to 140 days. The ges­ta­tion pe­riod lasts ap­prox­i­mately 60 to 73 days and can yield from 2 to 7 pups, al­though 3 or 4 pups per lit­ter is more typ­i­cal. Fe­males give birth to their young in dens lo­cated in rock crevices, hol­low trees, or in the aban­doned dens of other an­i­mals.

Young rac­coons are born with­out teeth and with their eyes closed. After 3 weeks their eyes open and they begin to show the char­ac­ter­is­tic mask on their faces. The young are weaned any­where be­tween 7 weeks and 4 months, and are in­de­pen­dent at about 8 months. Pro­cyon can­crivorus un­doubt­edly falls within this range of vari­a­tion. If a fe­male loses a new­born lit­ter, she may ovu­late a sec­ond time dur­ing the sea­son.

In areas where P. lotor and P. can­crivorus are both found, there does not ap­pear to be any in­breed­ing. (De La Rosa and Nocke, 2000; Feld­hamer, et al., 2003; Nowak, 1999)

• Key Reproductive Features
• iteroparous
• seasonal breeding
• gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)
• sexual
• fertilization
• viviparous
• delayed implantation

• Breeding interval

  Breeding occurs once per year.

• Breeding season

  Breeding occurs from July to September.

• Range number of offspring

  2 to 7

• Average number of offspring

  3-4

• Average number of offspring

  3

  AnAge

• Range gestation period

  60 to 73 days

• Range weaning age

  7 to 16 weeks

• Average time to independence

  8 months

• Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)

  1 years

• Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)
  Sex: female

  365 days

  AnAge

• Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)

  1 years

• Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)
  Sex: male

  365 days

  AnAge

Fe­males pro­vide all the parental care for the young, and may ex­clude males from the im­me­di­ate area while they have young. The mother re­duces her ac­tiv­ity and move­ments dur­ing the week of par­tu­ri­tion and be­comes in­tol­er­ant of con­specifics. The young begin to for­age with their mother be­fore they are weaned. They are de­pen­dent upon the fe­male for up to 8 months, but there is some vari­a­tion. Males are not ac­tively in­volved in car­ing for the young. (De La Rosa and Nocke, 2000; Feld­hamer, et al., 2003; Nowak, 1999)

• Parental Investment
• altricial
• pre-fertilization
  • provisioning
  • protecting
    • female
• pre-hatching/birth
  • provisioning
    • female
  • protecting
    • female
• pre-weaning/fledging
  • provisioning
    • female
  • protecting
    • female
• pre-independence
  • protecting
    • female

Lifes­pan/Longevity

Data are lack­ing on the longevity of P. can­crivorus. How­ever, few rac­coons live longer than 5 years in the wild, al­though some are es­ti­mated to sur­vive for 13 to 16 years. In 1982, a north­ern rac­con was still sur­viv­ing in a zoo after 20 years and seven months. (De La Rosa and Nocke, 2000; Nowak, 1999)

• Average lifespan
  Status: wild

  14.0 years

  Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research

Be­hav­ior

Rac­coons have well-de­vel­oped senses and are very in­tel­li­gent. They are noc­tur­nal and color blind, but have ex­cel­lent night vi­sion. Their tac­tile senses are what sep­a­rate rac­coons from other car­ni­vores. They have a well-de­vel­oped sense of touch, es­pe­cially in the nose and forepaws (hands), and they use their hands as tools. They use their hands to han­dle and ma­nip­u­late food be­fore plac­ing it in their mouths. They are dex­ter­ous, and can ma­nip­u­late small prey items. Rac­coons can be ob­served dip­ping their hands in the water and “wash­ing” their food be­fore in­gest­ing it. Some in­tel­li­gence stud­ies have placed rac­coons above cats but below pri­mates in their abil­ity to dis­crim­i­nate ob­jects. It was also ob­served that rac­coons can learn quickly and can re­tain knowl­edge for up to a year.

Male rac­coons are soli­tary, but will tol­er­ate other males around a feed­ing area. Dur­ing breed­ing sea­son, young males usu­ally dis­perse to other areas, whereas young fe­males stay within their mother’s home range. In gen­eral, rac­coons are soli­tary, even where there are over­lap­ping home ranges be­tween the sexes. There is lit­tle in­ter­ac­tion be­tween in­di­vid­u­als, but ex­cep­tions do occur dur­ing den­ning and at food ag­gre­ga­tions.

Male so­cial be­hav­ior may be dri­ven by the den­si­ties and spa­tial dis­tri­b­u­tion of fe­males. Fe­male dis­tri­b­u­tions are lim­ited by re­sources such as den sites, water, and food. How­ever, lit­tle is known about vari­a­tion in so­cial struc­ture among var­i­ous species of rac­coons. It is as­sumed that P. can­crivorus is like other mem­bers of the genus in gen­eral be­hav­ioral pat­terns. (De La Rosa and Nocke, 2000; Feld­hamer, et al., 2003; Nowak, 1999)

• Key Behaviors
• terricolous
• nocturnal
• motile
• solitary

Home Range

There is not much known about the home range size of crab-eat­ing rac­coons.

Com­mu­ni­ca­tion and Per­cep­tion

Crab-eat­ing rac­coons have good hear­ing ca­pa­bil­i­ties, and are keen to strange noises. Even though they are color blind, they have ex­cel­lent night­time vi­sion. Their tac­tile senses are what re­ally set them apart from other car­ni­vores. This tac­tile sense al­lows them to iden­tify food items bet­ter than any other senses. There has been 13 dif­fer­ent vo­cal­iza­tions rec­og­nized, 7 of which in­volved the mother and young. Al­though not specif­i­cally re­ported for this species, it is likely that, as in other mam­mals, scent cues play some role in re­pro­duc­tion and iden­ti­fi­ca­tion of in­di­vid­u­als. (Feld­hamer, et al., 2003)

• Communication Channels
• visual
• tactile
• acoustic
• chemical

• Perception Channels
• visual
• tactile
• acoustic
• chemical

Food Habits

For the most part, P. can­crivorus is om­niv­o­rous, but fruit has been ob­served to be the main part of its diet. Crab-eat­ing rac­coons con­sume a va­ri­ety of foods, in­clud­ing in­ver­te­brates, crus­taceans, in­sects, nuts, veg­eta­bles, fish, frogs, and small tur­tles. Ol­fac­tion, vi­sion, and their sense of touch are used to iden­tify and cap­ture food. The diet may change with sea­son and food avail­abil­ity. (De La Rosa and Nocke, 2000; Feld­hamer, et al., 2003)

• Primary Diet
• omnivore

• Animal Foods
• amphibians
• reptiles
• fish
• eggs
• insects
• aquatic crustaceans
• other marine invertebrates

• Plant Foods
• fruit

Pre­da­tion

De­tails on pre­da­tion of these an­i­mals are lack­ing. How­ever, it is likely that P. can­crivorus does fall prey to larger car­ni­vores. Pro­cyon lotor is known to be preyed upon by bob­cats, coy­otes, Amer­i­can al­li­ga­tors, and sev­eral species of owls. It is likely that P. can­crivorus has sim­i­lar preda­tors. Hu­mans may hunt these an­i­mals for fur and food. (De La Rosa and Nocke, 2000; Feld­hamer, et al., 2003)

Ecosys­tem Roles

As preda­tors, these rac­coons have some im­pact on prey species. As prey, they may af­fect preda­tor pop­u­la­tions.

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Pos­i­tive

Pro­cyon can­crivorus is an im­por­tant furbearer and game species. It gen­er­ates rev­enue from the sale of fur. (De La Rosa and Nocke, 2000; Feld­hamer, et al., 2003; De La Rosa and Nocke, 2000; Feld­hamer, et al., 2003)

• Positive Impacts
• body parts are source of valuable material

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Neg­a­tive

Pro­cyon can­crivorus is a car­rier of ra­bies, and can some­times dam­age crops, but usu­ally not to a se­ri­ous ex­tent. (De La Rosa and Nocke, 2000; Feld­hamer, et al., 2003)

• Negative Impacts
• crop pest
• causes or carries domestic animal disease

Con­ser­va­tion Sta­tus

North­ern rac­coons are man­aged as a game species through both hunt­ing and trap­ping. There is cur­rently no man­age­ment in Cen­tral Amer­ica for crab-eat­ing rac­coons. How­ever, even though P. can­crivorus is less com­mon than P. lotor, it is still doing well in the wild. (De La Rosa and Nocke, 2000)

• IUCN Red List

  Least Concern
  More information

• IUCN Red List

  Least Concern
  More information

• US Federal List

  No special status

• CITES

  No special status

Other Com­ments

Many ref­er­ences gen­er­al­ize by just say­ing "rac­coons". By just say­ing "rac­coons", we as­sume that are in­clud­ing both P. can­crivorus and P. lotor, both of which were dis­cussed through­out this ac­count.

Con­trib­u­tors

Nicole Phillips (au­thor), Uni­ver­sity of Alaska Fair­banks, Link E. Olson (ed­i­tor, in­struc­tor), Uni­ver­sity of Alaska Fair­banks.

Nancy Shef­ferly (ed­i­tor), An­i­mal Di­ver­sity Web.

Ref­er­ences

De Fa­tima, M., M. Dos San­tos, S. Hartz. 1999. The food habits of Pro­cyon can­crivorus (Car­nivora, Pro­cy­onidae) in the Lami Bi­o­log­i­cal Re­serve, Porto Algre, South­ern Brazil. Mam­malia, 63(4): 525-530.

De La Rosa, C., C. Nocke. 2000. Guide to the Car­ni­vores of Cen­tral Amer­ica. Austin: Uni­ver­sity of Texas Press.

Eisen­berg, J., K. Red­ford. 1999. Mam­mals of the Neotrop­ics. Lon­don: Uni­ver­sity of Chicago Press.

Feld­hamer, G., B. Thomp­son, J. Chap­man. 2003. Wild Mam­mals of North Amer­ica. Bal­ti­more and Lon­don: The Johns Hop­kins Uni­ver­sity Press.

Nowak, R. 1999. Walker's Mam­mals of the World, Sixth Edi­tion. Bal­ti­more and Lon­don: The Johns Hop­kins Uni­ver­sity Press.