Raccoons are disturbingly clever. And, apparently, we're making them more that way.
(Perhaps our future is not a Planet of the Apes, but a Planet of the Raccoons.)
Originally shared by +George Wiman:
Cities are apparently making raccoons smarter, by giving them progressively more complicated problems to solve, coupled with meaningful rewards. A model for education?
The Intelligent Life of the City Raccoon – Issue 18: Genius – Nautilus
Toronto resident Simon Treadwell wheeled a garbage bin onto a snow-bound lot next to his property one evening this past winter. Inside…
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I assume that, on The Planet Of The Raccoons, they would all be wisecracking, BFG-carrying opportunists…
Raccoons, rats, foxes, squirrels, crows… anything that's going to coexist with us has to keep getting smarter because we keep trying to kill them.
That probably goes for pigeons, too.
Well, there are a couple of strategies one can adapt to keep the population going. You can be smarter, adapting to circumstances, seizing opportunities. Or you can breed like rabbits. Or pigeons.