illegally keep raccoons as pets<\/a>.<\/p>\n\u201cIf they are really on the pathway to domestication, we would expect them to potentially get floppy ears, white patches, maybe their tails will start to curl,\u201d said Lesch. \u201cImagine having a dog, a cat and a raccoon living in the house with you \u2014\u00a0I feel like that would be the perfect trio.\u201d<\/p>\n
Using raccoons to prove a contested scientific theory\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lesch became enamoured with raccoons when she accidentally hit one on the head with an empty can as it was sitting in a trash can on the University of Arkansas campus.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before this, her research had been focused on animals that were already domesticated, but her raccoon run-in inspired a new direction.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat if we have animals that are currently on a pathway to domestication simply because they live in close proximity to us?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Now she\u2019s hopeful that raccoons can help her prove the existence of \u201cdomestication syndrome,\u201d a hotly contested scientific theory that animals genetically evolve to become cuter and friendlier in order to seem less threatening to humans. The theory posits that animals evolve to have shorter muzzles, reduced ear cartilage, less pigmentation and simultaneously, a lessened fear response after generations of living alongside humans.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Janet Koprivnikar, a chemistry and biology professor at Toronto Metropolitan University, agrees that raccoons\u2019 endearing qualities are likely explained by domestication syndrome.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Koprivnikar has always been struck by how many raccoons are visible outside in Toronto. Not only are they abundant, but they\u2019re clever and bold, she said.<\/p>\n
She compares their snout reduction to the snouts of domestic dogs, which are significantly smaller in comparison to their wolf ancestors. Smaller snouts on both animals are associated with youth \u2026 and cuteness.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt makes them look juvenile and we all think young animals are super cute,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She added that cuteness in combination with a bold demeanor may lead people to feed raccoons, which would help them thrive and reproduce. The interactions with humans \u201cjust basically intensifies the speed at which they could become domesticated,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lesch hopes to put this theory to the test in the next phase of her research, by trapping urban and rural raccoons and comparing their genetics or stress hormones to see if the more urban ones are inherently friendlier.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The danger of \u2018friendly\u2019 raccoons\u00a0<\/p>\n
Suzanne MacDonald, a psychology professor studying raccoon behaviour at York University, is considered one of the foremost raccoon specialists in Toronto \u2014 she\u2019s been quoted in dozens of Toronto news stories about them.<\/p>\n
MacDonald\u2019s research looks at how raccoon brains may be evolving in urban areas, to deal with the challenges that humans throw at them. She has found that urban raccoons have better problem-solving skills than their rural counterparts and they\u2019re less deterred by obstacles.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that if we are shaping raccoon anatomy and behaviour to be more \u2018friendly\u2019 and appealing to humans, then we have to face the consequences of that \u2026 raccoons are going to be even more persistent at begging for food, getting into our garage and attics and basements, and generally being more visible,\u201d she said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
She added that people should be wary of reaching a point where they want to invite raccoons into their homes,\u00a0\u201calthough I am pretty sure the raccoons would be very happy to do that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Koprivnikar\u2019s concern is that increased contact would lead to disease and parasite transmission, including spreading rabies and distemper virus to pets and roundworm to humans, which in rare instances can lead to a deadly infection.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She also worries that if raccoons become too much of a nuisance, humans will begin to trap and relocate them outside of the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cRelocated raccoons don’t do very well,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new study has found that the snouts of urban raccoons are getting smaller indicating they may be…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":302640,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[49,48,66,135859,323],"class_list":{"0":"post-302639","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-science","11":"tag-toronto-raccoonsraccoon-researchraffaela-lesch-raccoon-studyraccoon-domestication","12":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302639","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=302639"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302639\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/302640"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=302639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=302639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=302639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}