28 July 2024
Do you have got a “drawback” raccoon that’s entering into your trash it doesn’t matter what you do? Do you want concepts on tips on how to outsmart it? A research revealed final week within the Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Organic Sciences may also help set your expectations.
From 2016 to 2017, Lauren Stanton and colleagues [at the University of Wyoming] positioned six puzzle packing containers in areas that locals in Laramie reported as having quite a lot of raccoons—a residential yard, behind a meals retailer, and close to an deserted barn. …
Evening imaginative and prescient cameras captured raccoons at their most energetic and revealed some quick surprises. In a single occasion, a raccoon shoves a skunk out of the way in which to fiddle with a troublesome latch, then simply opens it. In one other, some raccoons wait close to the puzzle field till one other raccoon solves it, shoving the competitor apart and reaping the reward of kibble and sardines with none of the work.
In all, about 25% of the raccoons have been capable of open a minimum of three doorways over the 3-month research interval. That’s not so good as the 65% noticed within the lab, however Stanton says animals in captivity research have extra power, free time, and a spotlight.
— Science Journal: Raccoons present stunning problem-solving skills in city backyards
The puzzle packing containers appeared like this. Latches proven at backside left of every picture.
Watch the raccoons remedy the puzzles on this (abbreviated) 2016 video.
p.s. The entire 6+ minute video right here reveals all of the experiments together with raccoons doing the water displacement puzzle mastered by crows.
