Dofferent kinds of sounds... From my observations, I've heard low grunting and chattering when a mother raccoon is traveling at night with her young. Usually she will venture out into an open area first, then she will make some chatters and grunts after which you'll see the young ones step out, too.
The vicious screams they make are blood-curdling. I've run to our back door, in the middle of the night, thinking a puppy (or something) was being killed in our backyard trees. In the dark, I could see the tree limbs shaking as I heard snarls and screams. Then I found out it was the sound they make when they are mating.
About daytime sightings here in Seattle, I've seen them boldly strolling out from under my backyard cedars around 1pm in broad daylight, too. Some people have told me that raccoon populations have exploded. I think it's true. Right now I let my girls free range, only when I'm around (which kinda sucks). Three days ago I let them out around noon to free range the yard. A couple hours later, nearly 3pm, I put them into the run and closed the door, luckily. Within 15 minutes I heard a strange ruckus from my hens. I ran outside, thinking one of them was picking on the other .... but instead I find a HUGE raccoon lurking around the run, trying to get inside. There were NO sounds from him, but when he spotted me, he slide over the fence and under the neighbor's low deck. Ugh!! I've now been cleaning up a raccoon latrine I found along our back fence line. And I'm considering getting a large trap in order to remove the raccoon permanently, since I'm really nervous about having it (or them) living under the neighbor's deck. I'm sure they lick their chops when they hear my girls free ranging on the other side of the fence.
