Can raccoons taste with their hands?

Question

I thought it was an old wives' tale, but then read something otherwise. Can raccoons taste with their hands?

I've seen them wash their food, but read that there were minute taste receptors in their hands (good point about walking and tasting dirt, what if you stepped in poop?). I read it's an electrical conductivity enhanced by water. ?

Answer 1

No, that came about because raccoons have a habit of washing their food sometimes, particularly if there is water readily available. If you see it, they look very fastidious, turning the food over and over, so it is not hard to imagine that they are tasting the food with their hands.

Answer 2

I thought they have keen sense of smell and they are very fastidious about washing their food before eating....even if there is no water available they go thru the motions of washin. Never heard they have "taste" receptors in their paws. Would make walking on the ground very unpleasant wouldn't you think? Dirt can't taste very appetizing.
Here's the real "zoological" answer.
Eating habits: A nocturnal animal, raccoons sleep during the day and forage for food at night. They are omnivorous, and in the wild, eat crayfish, birds, mammals, fish, eggs, insects, earthworms, frogs, berries, nuts, fruits, corn, vegetable matter, and even carrion, but in the city, garbage cans are a favorite target (Vessel & Harrington 1961; MacClintock 1981). Raccoons have two ways of eating, dry feeding and dabbling; both are done while the raccoon gazes away into space and uses its acute sense of touch to investigate its meal. Dry feeding is done with certain types of foods like nuts, and the raccoon rolls or rubs the object of food, to examine and then consume it. On the other hand, dabbling is done where water is nearby and while catching fish, crayfish, etc.: the raccoon lays its hands just under the water and excitedly touches the substrate and rocks and their crevasses for food (MacClintock 1981). It has been noted by many that raccoons in captivity seem to wash their food, unlike their wild counterparts. Studies have found this behavior is not an act of cleaning the food, but it is a natural outlet for normal activities in the wild (MacClintock 1981). Raccoons must masticate their food because they have a narrow gullet and therefore they do not gulp their food like many other carnivores do (MacClintock 1981). Cypher and Cypher (1999) found a mutualistic relationship between persimmon seeds and raccoons. It turns out that persimmons have much higher germination rates after ingestion of the seeds by raccoons. There has been a coevolution factor proposed between raccoons and persimmons, as they have historically been located in the same range together (Cypher & Cypher 1999).

Answer 3

Can you taste with YOUR hands?

Answer 4

No.