If you’ve ever seen a raccoon lounging in a tree fork or curled up in a hiding spot, you may have wondered about their sleeping habits. These clever and adaptable animals have some unique behaviors when it comes to catching some Z’s. Let’s take a closer look at how raccoons sleep.

A Raccoon’s Sleep Schedule

Unlike many other mammals, raccoons are nocturnal, meaning they are most active at night. During the daylight hours, raccoons spend a good portion of their time resting and sleeping. On average, raccoons sleep for about 12-15 hours per day.

Their sleep cycles are polyphasic, which means they take several shorter nap periods throughout the day rather than one long sleeping period. A typical sleep pattern might involve a few hours of deep sleep after foraging at night, some lighter dozing in late morning, and additional napping periods in the afternoon and early evening before heading out again after dark.

Where Raccoons Sleep

Given their highly developed survival instincts, raccoons don’t just sleep anywhere out in the open. They are quite selective about their napping spots to avoid potential predators and stay safe while snoozing. Some favorite raccoon sleeping dens include:

• Hollow Trees or Log Cavities: Raccoons will make their sleeping nests inside hollow trunks or logs, lining them with grass, leaves, bark and other soft materials.
• Tree Forks or Branches: The raccoon’s ringed tail can help them balance in the forks of large trees where they make a basic nest.
• Attics, Chimneys or Abandoned Buildings: Urban and suburban raccoons will take advantage of dry, enclosed spaces in human structures like attics, chimneys and abandoned sheds or houses.

• Underground Dens or Burrows: Raccoons are great diggers and will excavate their own dens and burrows for sleeping quarters, often located under tree stumps or roots.
• Brush Piles or Thick Shrubbery: When other spots aren’t available, a raccoon may simply nest in dense tangles of bushes, brush piles or tall grasses that provide cover.

No matter where they snooze, raccoons take precautions like only using multiple exit routes they can escape from and avoiding sleeping nests that were previously used by other animals.

Sleep Positions and Habits

When raccoons settle in for a nap, they often sleep curled up in a tight ball with their head tucked between their front legs. Their ringed tails get wrapped around their bodies almost like a blanket. This compact sleeping position helps conserve body heat and makes them more difficult for predators to detect with their small surface area.

Depending on their sense of security in the napping spot, raccoons may sleep very lightly in a sitting position, ready to scamper away at the first sign of potential danger. Younger raccoons and those who feel very safe may sleep more sprawled out or on their backs.

Mother raccoons are very cautious and protective sleepers when they have nursing baby kits. They alternate between shallower sleep and keeping awake to watch over their litters. Older raccoons may let their guard down more and experience deeper sleep cycles while in their dens.

Raccoons do engage in some vocalizations while sleeping like soft whinnying, purring or snoring sounds. But in general, they try to keep quiet and go unnoticed during their long siestas.

Group vs. Solitary Sleeping

While most raccoons sleep solitary for security reasons, there are some cases where they may snooze in groups, especially when young:

• Mothers and Baby Kits: A mother raccoon will sleep with her litter of baby kits in the same den for warmth and protection until the kits are weaned at around 12-16 weeks old.
• Siblings Still Learning: Raccoon siblings may still nap together even as juveniles while they are learning survival skills from their mother.
• Cold Weather Huddling: In harsh winter conditions, unrelated raccoons may share sleeping quarters to pool body heat and stay warm enough without depleting fat reserves.

Besides those exceptions, adult raccoons usually prefer solitary sleep setups to avoid potential conflicts or being seen as a threat by other raccoons defending their territory.

Despite their mischievous reputations, raccoons have quite intriguing napping habits and sleeping behaviors. From their schedules to their napping spots to how they position themselves, these animals have adapted unique sleeping routines to stay well-rested, secure and warm – key to their successful survival in the wild and increasingly around humans as well.