Two of the larger mammals you may encounter in your Midwestern backyard aren't necessarily the kind of visitors you'd be excited to stumble into in the dark of night. They are also the kind of visitors you may want to keep away from your pets. Both of these visitors are adorned with stripes; they are the Raccoon and the Striped Skunk.
Raccoons are remarkably intelligent, adaptable, and persistent members of a family of mammals which includes Coatis and Kinkajous. Raccoons may be attracted to your neighborhood for foraging. They will happily topple over garbage cans, eat left out cat food, and even eat from bird feeders. Their industriousness can be a challenge; one often faced by campers who have to find inventive ways to keep these mammals out of their coolers.
Because of their nocturnal nature, you may never actually spot a Raccoon in your yard, but you can look for signs. Raccoon paw prints often look like little hands. You can also look for gnaw marks on your garbage cans or other outdoor totes. You may also find particularly gnarly looking scat in your yard. Raccoon droppings are fairly distinct; let's just say that if it came from your dog you'd be fairly concerned.
We've recently had Raccoon visitors and needed to move our bird feed tote into the garage. Note that it also means that we have been good about closing the garage door at night, since they would not be afraid to enter it while we sleep.
They were smart enough to go for the handles which fold over to form a lock for the container.
Based on the goodies I have in there, I assume they were after the peanuts or striped sunflower seeds.
Striped Skunks may also visit your yard during the night. They can be attracted to neighborhoods in surprisingly large numbers if folks leave food out for cats. They also enjoy rooting around the soil for grubs; the end result is almost a reverse mole hill. Skunks will also look for shelter in dense bushes or under decks. When I was in college there was a Skunk which lived in the bushes near the auditorium; he'd come out during the night and could be found foraging around the building. We haven't actually seen a Skunk in our yard, but we have had mornings where we could still smell Skunk lingering in the air when we let the dog out.
Neither of these species is on their own a pest. Having mammals in your backyard may simply be a sign of good biodiversity. They may be busily munching away on the insects, amphibians, or fruit you have growing in your yard. They could also be a sign that you or your neighbors could do a better job cleaning up after yourselves by not leaving pet food or garbage out. They can however become a problem if they interact with your pets or children, or if they manage to get themselves into places where they don't belong such as your shed, garage, or attic. Many counties no longer offer animal control services for problematic wildlife; if you encounter serious problems with Raccoons or Skunks please consider finding a company who can trap and relocate the unwanted visitor.
