Among the most familiar of the wild animals maintained in the Nature Center's living collection are the raccoons. Raccoons are intelligent, mid-sized, nocturnal omnivores. Raccoons will eat anything they can find, plant or animal, including carcasses of road-killed animals. They are notorious for raiding garbage cans and can be easily trained to accept handouts from humans.

In nature, raccoons normally live near water and obtain a significant percentage of their food from water. Crayfish are a favorite natural food. When hunting in water, raccoons search for food primarily by touch. Their hand-like front paws are very sensitive and can easily distinguish objects by feel. Their habit of "washing" food is related to their behavior of feeling objects underwater while hunting.

Raccoons are able to adapt to life in close proximity to human habitations. In fact, human food scraps and agricultural practices may actually enhance the habitat for raccoons. It is estimated that 10,000 raccoons live in Buncombe County.

Young raccoons are occasionally kept as pets, and are exceedingly curious and playful. As they mature, however, they become difficult, even dangerous, to handle.

The natural diet of the raccoon varies with the seasons. In fall and winter acorns make up a large percentage of the diet, while during spring and summer crayfish, frogs, salamanders and insects (especially grasshoppers) become increasingly important. The raccoons at the Nature Center are fed a commercially prepared feline zoo diet supplemented with fresh fruits and vegetables.

Raccoons normally breed during their first or second year, with mating generally taking place in late winter. Young, known as kits, are born in late spring after a gestation period of 63 to 65 days. Litters usually contain 3 to 5 kits.

In captivity, raccoons can live 10 to 15 years, although their lifespan in the wild is much less. Many wild raccoons do not survive beyond their first year, and significant mortality occurs in each successive year. A full lifespan for a wild raccoon would be about 5 to 7 years.