Smart Raccoons?

So while researching facts about animal intelligence, I ran across some very interesting facts about Raccoons! You know, that little nocturnal creature seeking midnight snacks. Yes, those raccoons, the ones with the bushy tails, the tiny human like hands and their bandit like face mask!  Who would ever think they were considered an intelligent animal with some pretty inquisitive cognitive abilities.

In fact, they were once considered as an alternative research lab animal, but lab techs had a difficult time keeping them in their cages. The raccoons would find ways to escape their cages in the evening and steal things! 

 Psychologist Lawrence W. Cole, established a colony of raccoons at the University of Oklahoma in 1907, experimenting with the learning, association and memory in raccoons.  Using E.L. Thorndike’s puzzle-box methodology, he placed animals in wooden crates with multiple latches in which the animals had to unlatch to escape.  Because of their tolerant nature, they independently concluded that raccoons bested the abilities of cats and dogs, most closely approximating the mental attributes of monkeys.

"Scientists such as Charles Darwin, William James and James Mark Baldwin all developed psychological theories based upon observations of their own children and pets." Cole kept his raccoons as both pets and research 'observational' subjects." 

Scientific naturalists characterize raccoons as cunning, mischievous and curious. Cole claimed that these characteristics possessed by the raccoons  " derived from complex forms of mental association, a quality that many scientists argued non-human animals did not possess. Psychologists considered curiosity a notable trait because it was a form of attention stripped of any utilitarian motive such as hunger or fear. It represented learning in its purest form". Of course, this drew criticism from others in the field of behaviorism.

Another experiment conducted by a critic of Coles, Walter S. Hunter involved placing the raccoons in competition with rats, dogs and children. Each had to recognize which of 3 light bulbs was going to turn on after a brief delay. The dogs were able to do so with a delay of 5 minutes. The raccoons took 25 seconds and were able to do it without even looking at the light bulbs. His conclusion was the raccoons like the children were able to identify the "correct stimulus" despite any changes or disruptions during the experiment. Still, this did not change Hunter's views on raccoons.

A recent paradigm test conducted by a group of researchers from the University of Wyoming and the USDA National Wildlife Research Center involved water displacement, a call back to the old Greek Aesop fable, "The Crow and The Pitcher" which tells about a thirsty cow figuring out how to obtain a drink from a low watered pitcher.  The researchers found the inquisitive nature of the raccoon solved a new approach on how to get to their prize (which was a floating marshmallow at the bottom of a long cylinder that had a low level of water). 

The researchers initially set stones on the rim of the cylinder. After the raccoons figured out how to put them in, they realized it would raise the water level. 2 raccoons were successful in acquiring the marshmallow by dropping in the stones, the 3rd 'innovative' raccoon decided to just tip the cylinder and obtain his marshmallow the easier way! 

The researchers concluded: "We suggest that raccoon performance in this paradigm reflected differences in tangential factors, such as behavior, morphology, and testing procedures, rather than cognitive deficiencies," They are just as cunning and investigative while captive as they are in wildlife.

Sources;

Pettit , Michael. “Raccoon Intelligence .” Monitor on Psychology, American Psychological Association, Nov. 2010, www.apa.org/monitor/2010/11/raccoon.aspx



For some further reading on these cuties, check out this fun article, "5 Reasons Why Raccoons Are Smarter Than You!" 
http://www.biotechpestmanagement.com/article.cfm?ArticleNumber=13