The hunting Rakali can generally be seen at dawn or dusk and are considered semi-nocturnal, as they can been seen foraging in broad daylight. They can be observed swimming and diving, or running along the bank for food, often taking their catch to an eating platform or 'midden' sitting up to eat, holding their catch in their paws. They will actively hunt fish, with eels being a particular favourite, yabbies, shrimp, crabs, and large aquatic insects, with some reported cases of ducks and poultry being taken.

Foraging for other invertebrates such as tube-worms, mussels and other shellfish is common and Rakali have been known to scavenge the unwanted fish discarded by fishermen. Most Rakali frequent their feeding stations, or 'middens' on a regular basis during the course of a hunting expedition, where they leave much of the inedible parts of their catches, giving us a chance to determine their diets. Their dives last for an average of 6 seconds duration, with 3 sec. being the minimum dive observed and 14 sec. the longest recorded dive.

The Rakali have learned to minimise hypothermia by adaptive foraging. By targeting larger prey in winter, the Rakali gets more meat per dive, thereby minimising the time spent in the water. They may also spend more time hunting on land, where they can more adequately maintain a constant body temperature.

Said to be territorial, the usually shy Rakali leads a largely solitary life, taking a partner during the main breeding season. Breeding occurs throughout the year with the main season from September to March. On a softly lined nest at the end of a chosen burrow, the female, after a gestation period of about 36 days, will give birth to up to 4 pups (one for each nipple). The pups are born blind but furred, measuring approximately 13cm. in total length (tail of 5cm. included), and weighing around 28 grams. The pups attach themselves onto a nipple with specially adapted incisor teeth, curving outward allowing the nipple to fit between them. These incisors grow together by the time the pup is 3 weeks old. The pups, firmly attached to the mothers nipples, are dragged around in a similar fashion to that of young marsupials. The eyes open on the 13th day and at 17 days they measure 25.4cm. in total length, and are making active trips around the burrow.

Weaning takes place at the age of 4 weeks followed by a learning period of a further 4 weeks. This allows the young the time and opportunity to attain some independence before they are abandoned by their mother, who will breed again before the end of the main breeding season. At 34 days they will have already reached a quarter of their adult size, and by 2 months are almost half grown .........quite rapid development. In extremely favourable conditions a female may become sexually mature, and in fact breed, at the age of 4 months. More commonly however, females reach sexual maturity at 8 months of age, males a few months later. Rakali young are prey to snakes, large fish, foxes, cats, and birds of prey.

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