Autumn–winter diet of the raccoon (Procyon lotor) in the Czech Republic: a preliminary diet analysis

Abstract This preliminary study investigated the autumn–winter diet of the raccoon ( Procyon lotor ) in the Czech Republic using stomach-content analysis. A total of 46 raccoons were collected from October to February during two consecutive autumn–winter sampling periods (2024/2025 and 2025/2026), comprising 29 individuals from the eastern and 17 from the western sampling region. The western sampling region was characterised by a predominantly forested landscape with grasslands and surrounding agricultural land, whereas the eastern sampling region comprised a heterogeneous mosaic of agricultural landscapes, floodplain forests, and wetlands. Six stomachs were empty and excluded from dietary analyses, resulting in 40 stomachs with identifiable dietary contents. Agricultural crops dominated the diet, accounting for 65.8% of the total diet volume, with maize representing approximately 85% of all recorded crops. Animal dietary components included birds (9.5%), invertebrates (7.1%), amphibians (5.9%), and mammals (3.1%), while other food categories occurred in lower proportions. The high contribution of agricultural crops indicates that human-associated food resources may represent an important component of raccoon diet during the autumn–winter period. However, the origin of consumed crops could not be determined and may include supplementary feeding as well as post-harvest residues. Given the limited sample size and uneven temporal distribution of samples, the study provides preliminary baseline information on autumn–winter diet composition rather than evidence of spatial or temporal variation. These findings highlight the importance of agricultural crops in the autumn–winter diet of raccoons in the Czech Republic and provide a basis for future studies using larger and seasonally balanced datasets.