When night falls across Maryland’s forests, suburbs, and shorelines, a clever little creature emerges to explore, forage, and outsmart nearly everything in its path—the raccoon. With its signature black “mask,” nimble hands, and mischievous curiosity, the raccoon (Procyon lotor) has earned both admiration and frustration from Maryland residents.
From rummaging through trash cans in Baltimore to washing clams along the Chesapeake Bay, raccoons are survivors, engineers, and troublemakers rolled into one. They’ve adapted to every habitat across the state, thriving where humans and nature intersect.
But there’s more to these masked bandits than meets the eye. In this detailed guide, we’ll reveal the secrets about raccoons in Maryland you didn’t expect—their intelligence, unique behaviors, ecological roles, and the surprising reasons they’ve become one of the state’s most adaptable mammals.
Understanding the Maryland Raccoon
Physical Characteristics
Raccoons are medium-sized mammals, weighing between 10 to 30 pounds, with a sturdy build, dense gray fur, and a distinctive black-and-white facial mask. Their ringed tails, typically marked with 5 to 7 dark bands, help them balance when climbing trees…