Homeowners may think of raccoons as just mask-wearing backyard bandits, but ongoing research by two Rausser College of Natural Research scientists has found they are actually clever creatures.
Earlier this month, Environmental Science, Policy, and Management professor Christopher Schell and postdoctoral researcher Lauren A. Stanton spoke to ABC7 San Francisco about their research that explores the remarkable learning abilities of raccoons, particularly in urban environments like the Bay Area. By documenting raccoons' behavior through a mix of risk-and-reward and lab-designed puzzles, they aim to uncover how much raccoons understand and how their cleverness has aided in their successful behavior adaptations.
At the intersection of animal behavior, physiology, urban biodiversity conservation, and environmental justice, Schell’s research investigates how carnivores—namely coyotes, foxes, and raccoons—adapt to life in cities. Stanton, a cognitive ecologist, focuses on the learning and problem-solving abilities of urban carnivores.
Their findings aim to disentangle how environmental factors like the differences in the amount of traffic, tree cover, and food availability in poor and rich neighborhoods have shaped our urban ecosystems for people and animals alike.
"The behavioral strategies for living in these two different environments are wildly different, and it stands to reason that the strategies to just survive in those two different neighborhoods and environments are also wildly different,” said Schell. “And that's the case for raccoons and for humans.”
Learn more about their research in the video below.