In my Toronto neighbourhood every Tuesday is Raccoon Evolution Day,
I used to live in the east end, where literally every house had its own raccoon on garbage day. We had one of the early iterations of the green bin, which ‘locked’ by means of a metal latch that folded down and was too hard, physically, for a raccoon to open.
One day I came outside and saw them approaching the green bins in groups of two or three and collectively throwing themselves at the bins to knock them over. A certain percentage of the bins would pop open as they hit the ground and presto: trash piñata. If the bin didn’t pop open, they’d just move on and try next door.
It’s not just their amazing, grabby little hands. It’s the fact that they understand teamwork.
