It can be found in Trinidad and Tobago, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Suriname, Guyana, French Guiana, Ecuador, Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina.

[4] It resembles its northern cousin, the common raccoon, in having a bushy ringed tail and "bandit mask" of fur around its eyes.

It also is better adapted for a diet of hard-shelled food, with most of the cheek teeth being larger than those of the common raccoon, with broader, rounded cusps.

It is a host of the intestinal parasite Pachysentis procyonis, an acanthocephalan whose species name is derived from the genus of the crab-eating raccoon.

[7] The crab-eating raccoon is solitary and nocturnal, primarily terrestrial but will spend a significant amount of time in trees.

While typically crab-eating raccoons only breed once per year, if a female loses all her kits early in the season, they will mate again and have a second litter.