Do Raccoons Eat Rabbits? Explained

Raccoons are omnivores, which means they eat plants and animals, so you can say they eat rabbits. But there are also many other foods they often eat, like plants, including seeds, potatoes, nuts, beans, peas, and fruits like grapes, berries, melons, and other fruits. The animals they eat include fish, crayfish, turtles, mice, frogs, mussels, birds, eggs, and insects. It is the routine diet of a raccoon. But these all are what they often eat; their favorite food is nuts, berries, and insects. It’s not that they don’t eat that food; they eat, but they prioritize nuts, berries, and insects, and second, we have upper discussed. 

Can Raccoons Eat Rabbits

It is not frequently that raccoons eat rabbits, but if a sudden rabbit crosses the path of a raccoon, it will hunt it down. Raccoons are nocturnal animals, so they have a significant advantage and can easily prey on animals. Most raccoons are also crepuscular; crepuscular animals are active during dusk. And as for rabbits, they can be easily hunted by raccoons. Raccoons mostly hunt at night, so it is dangerous for rabbits and other animals. But for raccoons, it’s a bit difficult to hunt rabbits due to their fast zigzag speed because raccoons can’t run as fast as rabbits. It’s a bit difficult, not impossible, for raccoons, and when a hungry raccoon catches a rabbit, it will eat it at a glimpse. 

Animals That Eat Only Plants

How Do Raccoons Find Their Food?

Raccoons can easily find their food. They are wildlife animals and live in forests among trees, so they have many options. They will find their favorite food, nuts, berries, insects, birds, eggs, and fruits. But nowadays, the raccoon population is increasing in cities and towns, and they find a lot of food to eat there. In urban areas, there is no food like in forests, but here they find food in humans’ trash. They steal food from human gardens. So here, they quickly find food without any effort. In forests, they sometimes have to fight with other animals for a meal, but in cities, they don’t have to fight with animals where they can easily find food. But they are wild by birth, and their habits resemble wildlife animals. So if you hit them in food cases, they will fight and defend you.

Pregnant Raccoon

How Do Raccoons Hunts Animals?

Raccoons are brilliant; although they are not very fast, they are brilliant. So, what do they do to hunt animals like rabbits? We know that rabbits are so fast, and for raccoons, there is challenging to catch rabbits. But if they are not fast as rabbits, they are intelligent. They also have other abilities from which they can easily hunt other small animals. Like they are good at climbing trees, good at swimming, and have nimble front paws from which they can collect fruits from trees. Through their elegant front jaws, they can hunt small animals, including rabbits. 

Raccoons Babies

Why Do Raccoons Give Second Preference To Rabbits?

There is a reason why raccoons give second preference to rabbits. Raccoons want comfort food; they don’t like difficulty finding food. It is the of that question. Raccoons’ first preference is eating nuts, birds, eggs, insects, and fruits. Because they don’t have to work hard to find this food, raccoons prefer easy food in which they don’t have to make much effort. Even they don’t want to fight with other animals during the meal.

Now the question is; When do they eat rabbits? As we previously discussed, they prefer the more accessible option for food. As for rabbits, raccoons have a hard time catching them, but the matter did not end there. Sometimes if they don’t get their daily food, they will go for risky options like eating rabbits, but when they don’t find their food, they usually don’t. Raccoons can’t catch rabbits, but they can fool them with their intelligence and trap them in their net. 

How Can You Protect Your Rabbits From Raccoons?

Keeping rabbits as a pet at home is a bit difficult because they are threatened by predators like raccoons, dogs, and other wild animals. If your rabbits have also been exposed to raccoons, protect them. You can make enclosing protection homes. It can be metal wire protection or tie some best cloth outside their home. Work in such a way that raccoons can’t enter rabbits’ homes. For example, you can tie the wires together in such as the form of fences and install them outside their home so that the raccoons can not enter their homes, and raccoons will also protect your rabbits.

Raccoon Rabies Signs

What Abilities of Rabbits can Save Them From Raccoons?

Rabbits are intelligent animals and are well adapted to save them from predators, including raccoons and other wild animals. They have different abilities that help to save them from predators. 

1- Well Skilled Runners

Rabbits are well-skilled runners. They run so fast that raccoons can’t catch them. When they see any predator coming to them, they run fast and then hide in any protected area so that they will be safe from predators. They give tough times to their predators. 

2- Excellent Sense of Smelling and Hearing

Naturally, rabbits have a perfect sense of hearing and smell. Their abilities can help them not be caught by predators. Rabbits also have an excellent sense of sight. If there is any danger nearby, they can hear and see them easily and detect predators easily. This way, they can hide from predators.

3- Using Their Hind Legs For Defense

Rabbits have hind legs, which help them not only to run fast but also help them in self-defense. They use their hind legs when fighting with predators, but they only use their hind legs when fighting with small predators, even if they get injured by rabbits while fighting. So they can save their life from the hunter.

4- Injuring Predators From Their Sharp Teeth

There is also a time when the fight between rabbits and predator is equal. In this situation, rabbits use their sharp teeth to injure the predator in front of them. So this method can also help them to escape from predators. 

FAQs

Conclusion

Raccoons are well at killing and fighting wild animals. But as we talked about before, they don’t eat rabbits usually because they don’t want to make an effort to catch them, so their priority is to eat their daily base routine food. Occasionally, when they don’t find their favorite food, so they go to eat rabbits. But there is also a difficulty for raccoons because rabbits are already prepared to escape from any predator. It’s not like raccoons can’t catch rabbits; when the chance, they don’t even give them a chance to escape.

Related Posts:

• Do raccoons eat fish?
• Do raccoons eat mice?
• Do raccoons eat foxes?
• Do snakes eat rabbits?
• Do raccoons eat apples?
• Do raccoons eat squirrels?
• Do raccoons eat chickens?
• Do raccoons wash their food?
• Do raccoons eat dead animals?