The raccoon raiding your garbage bin might just be solving a puzzle — for the fun of it

By Hannah Griebling, PhD Candidate in the Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences, Faculty of Forestry and Environmental Stewardship, University of British Columbia
Sarah Benson-Amram, Associate Professor, Zoology & Forest and Conservation Sciences, University of British Columbia

Ever woken up to find that a crafty raccoon has overturned your garbage bin and spread the discarded contents of your life across the street?

Raccoons — sometimes referred to as “trash pandas” — are renowned as excellent innovators and problem-solvers who can often find their way through the trickiest barriers in their search for food.

So how do raccoons adapt their problem-solving strategies as tasks become more difficult? And will…

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