Anyone with a backyard in the southern US will eventually face off against a stubborn Louisville raccoon, taking up residence. There’s a good chance that the raccoon will win.



Before you get any ideas, let’s be clear: don’t kill it. It’s inhumane, and still quite difficult. Kentucky raccoons are smart – very, very smart, and they’ve evolved more than one way of defending themselves against predators, the elements, and unwilling tenants. More than one suburban dweller has found himself unable to outsmart this much smaller, much cuter creature.

Mind you, that doesn’t mean you should just make friends. It is a wild animal, after all. Best to respect its abilities, and call a professional. Raccoons are smart, and seeing just how smart should be enough to convince you to give the animal its space.

The average Louisville raccoon can open a sliding lock with ease, without being taught. Its opposable thumbs are a big help here, but the ability isn’t just dumb luck – they try, fail, and remember when trying again.

Studies involving Kentucky raccoons and locks go all the way back to Teddy Roosevelt’s presidency. Raccoons, when confronted with an increasingly complex series of latches, were able to free themselves when trapped within a box. Their intelligence outstripped both dogs and cats in these tests, coming closest to monkeys. Like monkeys, raccoons use tools they make themselves.

Of course, you don’t need a test to tell you this. Any good trapper can tell you that the best live animal traps have to be able to both keep the animal in, and raccoons out, lest the food/bait inside be stolen.

Raccoons will throw off a predator by disguising their scent – jump in a stream, leave on a partially submerged branch, and hit the ground running a few trees later. The scent trail breaks, and the predator is stumped.

The biggest test of intelligence, however, is one humans have also mastered, so well we rarely think about it– we can live nearly anywhere on earth. We’ve learned to work together with other humans, breaking down complex tasks into simple pieces that can be handled by individuals within a larger group.

Louisville raccoons do the same. Their family groups, in fact, have recognizable roles, and not just ‘mama’ and ‘papa’ – though they do recognize their young all the way through adulthood, and continue protecting them even after they’ve grown. Raccoons understand which one of their group is the lookout, which one needs to tip the trash can, which one needs to enter the trash can…you get the idea. That kind of coordinated activity isn’t found in less intelligent animals.

The fact is, Kentucky raccoons are smart enough to live alongside humans, and be considered pests. Few other animals achieve that level of success. We ought to respect it.

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