Raccoons are notoriously geniuses at stealing lunch and stealing hearts. But who are they?

Author: Jacob Mattie, Peak Associate

Whether it's breaking into a student dormitory, learning how to use AQ's automatic doors, or stealing fish in a reflecting pool, raccoons are the most involved wild animals on the SFU Burnaby campus. They are big enough to attract people's attention, cute enough to gather loyal fans in groups, and cunning enough to find a way to bring food anywhere. But what are they?

The name "raccoon" originated from the Powatan people on the east coast, and their word is "aroughcun". This roughly translates to "people rubbing, scrubbing and scratching with their hands", and has been adapted into English into a term that we all know and love. 

In Latin nomenclature, the name of the raccoon procyon lotor is not clear. Translated as "before-dogwasher", the name is used to illustrate the tendency of raccoons to handle things with their paws. Raccoons are believed to be related to dogs, badgers, bears, or cats, which has caused a lot of controversy among European taxonomists. In view of the bear-related name ursus lotor by Carl Linnaeus (the father of modern taxonomy), raccoons were subsequently renamed by Gottlieb Conrad Christian Storr, who thought they were more like dogs. In fact, raccoons are not closely related to dogs at all. Raccoons are almost members of the genus Procyon, marking them as relatives of otters, skunks, weasels, and distant bears. Get rekt Storr. 

The bear-like tendency of raccoons is still present in many other languages ​​around the world. From Norwegian to Mandarin to Italian (and many other languages), raccoons are called "wash bears" in some form. They earned this name for their obsession with touch. Just as we humans are based on vision, dolphins rely on their sense of hearing, while dogs live through their noses, the main sense of raccoons is touch. 65% of their brains are dedicated to tactile input—more than any other mammal studied. 

The hard, callused skin layer covering their paws will soften in water, which can make the raccoons more sensitive to the touch. Combined with the whiskers around the fingers, the raccoon can recognize a range of characteristics just by touching it—including whether something is edible. This is very valuable in the wild because they can be vigilant to investigate the world around them while investigating new objects. Their incredible tactility is possible because the small whiskers on their hands are similar to those of cats.

Raccoons are native to North America and spread throughout the continent. Habitats range from cold grasslands to tropical regions, and raccoons are usually happy to live near water sources. Despite being an excellent swimmer and an intermediate-skilled hunter, raccoons are often not picky when it comes to food choices. They like food that is easily available and can be obtained without much effort. They can eat almost anything that can eat their claws, from fresh leaves and acorns to frogs, birds and snakes. This also includes any temporarily unsupervised snacks you pack between lectures. Most of the food of raccoons in winter is worms and insects.

In addition to the robber mask and human-like fingers, one of the characteristics of the raccoon is its curiosity. As one of the first and most prominent examples of curiosity in the animal world, raccoons are the source of controversy between psychologists and behaviorists. The raccoon's "free thinking"-the act of finding creative solutions and investigating objects or places where there is no hunger or fear-based motivation-was previously described as a behavior unique to humans. In the accusations of prejudice and gullibility by opponents, raccoons have become a taboo topic to some extent, and related research has “fallen out of favor” for decades. 

To this day, raccoons are rarely selected as research animals. Despite their amazing intelligence, people generally think that they are too smart to conduct experiments. In the experiments that have been conducted, raccoons often find ways to trick the system to get more, faster, and less effort rewards. For example, in a test that required animals to put rocks in a tube to raise the water level and make floating marshmallows within reach, a raccoon figured out a way to turn the tube over to obtain marshmallows. This is in line with the raccoon’s curiosity-based methodology: rather than looking for the most effective solution, it is better to say that an effective solution is enough.

To further discourage researchers, raccoons have proven to be cunning escape artists. Whether it's by studying scientists' conventions of opening the cage, by their own creativity, or just by breaking the fence of the cage, they will inevitably escape. In one notorious case, the raccoon escaped from the cage and was later found in the (hidden) ventilation shaft. Raccoons become hostile when they are forced into desperation, causing these researchers to fall into an unpleasant situation and reducing attempts to study raccoons in a laboratory environment.

However, it has been concluded that raccoons are among the most intelligent mammals-second only to humans, monkeys and great apes (such as chimpanzees, orangutans, gorillas, etc.). The raccoon can remember which door hides the snack, even if it gets distracted before making a choice-this is something dogs and mice can't do.

Raccoons thrive in urban environments are their wisdom-as we all know, raccoons are more common in cities than in the wild. As one of the few animals that have increased in number with urban development, their success is attributed to their ability to recognize and avoid hazards (mainly in the form of busy road intersections), find shelter (usually using human buildings), and The arms race to develop anti-animal trash cans matches humans step by step. 

In some parts of the world, raccoons are kept as pets. Although very cute, raccoons are often considered poor pets because it is well known that males become aggressive as they mature. However, they are one of the few animals that can transition from domestic life to wild life. Despite the allure, domestication of wild raccoons is not recommended. A large percentage of raccoons carry roundworm parasites that can cause harm to humans. Raccoons can also carry rabies, but even though this has not been reported in BC, the teeth of raccoons are still very sharp, which can cause major injuries regardless of whether they have rabies. 

Northern raccoons conserve energy by becoming inactive in winter and enter a state called numbness-similar to how bugs sleep during most of the winter (or how students feel after completing midterm exams). Although numbness is similar to hibernation in principle, there are differences between the two. Hibernation is recognized by a drop in body temperature, which does not occur in overwintering raccoons. 

Stealing is a very common hobby of raccoons-they will find a way to take away whatever they want. So please pay attention to your snacks, pay attention to your feelings, and remember that raccoons will come for both.

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