Are raccoons able to raccoons swim?

Researches have shown that raccoons can swim at an average speed of about 5 kilometers an hour, and can remain inside water for several hours. Raccoons have also been found to enter swimming pools of private buildings, and can remain in the pool without anyone noticing. It is also believed that raccoons can become very nervous inside water, and that is because their body weights can be as much as 2lbs and they don’t have find or physical features that can stabilize their body inside a flowing water.



When raccoons swim, they don’t do so intentionally, they do so in order to catch fishes or some other sea animals or they are running after a predator. Raccoons can quickly attach themselves to objects located within streams (including tree branches and rocks), can find their ways out of water easily. Raccoons originally live in deciduous forests and mountains, however, they have migrated to marshy areas and places close to coastal regions, and thus, they had to get some swimming skills in order to catch insects and sea animals in the sea and streams, especially in urban areas.

Raccoons can crawl, and stand in water, and the development of their claws even makes it easier for them to grab water animals at an incredible speed. Male raccoons are generally heavier than females, and during the spring season , both male and female raccoons can swim faster , but they hardly move near the water in the winter season- this is the season when they temporarily hibernate. Though the bodies of raccoons can vary with habitat, most of the raccoons found in urban areas do have bodies that can withstand strong water torrents, especially when they are swimming.

Raccoons can swim under water at depths of about 5 feet, their breathing mechanisms are developed in such a way that they can survive under water with little or no oxygen, for several minutes, unlike humans who can barely survive without oxygen for over 1 minute. The skin of raccoons comprises of more than 85% of fur or coat, and that makes it easier for the animal to swim even in extremely cold weather. Raccoons use their skin as extra insulator during temporary hibernating periods, and with the extra storage of fats from food ingested during the spring and summer, raccoons can easily stay with less food during winter seasons.

Raccoons can swim for a long time inside water; however, they cannot live inside water.

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