Barbara Ray answers this question from February 2019. Got a question yourself? Ask here!
We’ve had several calls the past two days from folks concerned they are seeing raccoons out in trees during the daytime. Residents say they usually never see raccoons during the day. With the weather we have had lately, this is normal and to be expected! Ohio raccoons do not like snow. When we have snow cover, they prefer to den up for several days, only emerging once in a while to go to the bathroom and grab a mouthful of snow to get a “drink.”
In Ohio, often the snow is gone in less than a week so they know they can wait it out. The past week was also bitterly cold and raccoons said, “no thank you!” As soon as the snow started melting and the air warming, perhaps more raccoons than usual crept out during daylight to sleep in the fork of a tree and warm up in the sun. This is also raccoon breeding season, so males that have been roaming all night looking for females are exhausted from trekking miles through the woods, ravines and fields and will crash anywhere that might be cozy. With the nice sun we had for a couple of recent days, an exposed tree roost is perfect!
So no worries if you see a raccoon or two out in broad daylight unless the animal appears injured or confused, in which case it may be sick. With creeks flooding right now and more ground to be saturated this week, many small animals are going to be displaced from their underground dens, so raccoons may be foraging and feasting any time of day or night right now to take advantage. Most will still remain nocturnal, but some, especially younger ones, are perfectly fine moving about in daylight hours.
