🦝 Raccoon
Procyon lotor
The neighborhood's masked negotiator. Raccoons have a huge vocabulary of chirrs, growls, screeches and eerie churring fights.
🔊 Hear the call
🦝 Raccoon
Reference call (simulated)
“Chittering purrs and trills, escalating into growls and drawn-out screeches”
What they sound like
Chittering purrs and trills, escalating into growls and drawn-out screeches
Why they make this sound
- · Mothers chirring to their kits
- · Squabbles over food or territory
- · Warning growls when cornered
When you’ll hear them
Night, especially early spring when kits are being raised
Where they live
Woodlands, wetlands, attics, storm drains and alleyways Most of North America and introduced across Europe and Japan
Fun fact
Researchers have catalogued more than 50 distinct raccoon vocalizations.
Should I be concerned?
Give them room, especially around babies. Never corner one, secure trash and pet food, and call animal control for one acting sick or fearless in daylight.
Sound signature
- Sound type
- Mammal vocalization — chitter and screech
- Pitch
- Medium-high, varied
- Pattern
- Irregular bursts of chirrs and squeals
- Frequency
- 500–4,000 Hz