It seems humans aren’t alone in their love for puzzles. New research has found that raccoons—a species already known to be innovative and curious enough to thrive in cities—will solve puzzles if given the opportunity.
The research, led by Hannah Griebling, a PhD candidate at the University of British Columbia, made use of a multiaccess puzzle box, or MAB, to study raccoon problem-solving skills.
An MAB is a locked box with multiple puzzle access points and a tasty treat inside. After a raccoon solves one of the entry puzzles, experimenters remove it as a way to open the box. This means that for each future trial, the raccoon must solve a new puzzle to get their prize.
The researchers added a twist to the experiment. “We asked a very simple question: what would happen if we left all the solutions unlocked?” says Griebling. “Would the raccoons still go around and solve multiple solutions on their own?”
With their new procedure and the raccoons’ treat of choice (marshmallows) in hand, Griebling and the team set out to find the answer. They presented raccoons housed at the United States Department of Agriculture, National Wildlife Research Center, Colorado, with an MAB containing nine entry puzzles. The raccoons had access to the MAB for twenty minutes at a time over multiple sessions.
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The raccoons “really surprised us,” says Griebling. Even without a food reward, the racoons kept solving puzzles.
“The puzzle box is transparent, and the raccoons could reach inside and feel for more food from an already open door,” explains Griebling. “They should know there’s no other food in the box, but they were still willing to engage in innovation and problem-solving without us locking any of the solutions.”
The racoons were no slouches at solving the puzzles. “If I could go back and do it again, I would make the puzzles even more difficult,” says Griebling.
So what does this means for cottagers looking to raccoon-proof their garbage cans? “Maybe don’t give them more puzzles to solve,” she says. “Put a lock on that they can’t get into.”
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