Ever woken up to find that a crafty raccoon has overturned your garbage bin and spread the discarded contents of your life across the street?

Raccoons — sometimes referred to as “trash pandas” — are renowned as excellent innovators and problem-solvers who can often find their way through the trickiest barriers in their search for food.

So how do raccoons adapt their problem-solving strategies as tasks become more difficult? And will they still engage in problem solving even if it doesn’t lead to a food reward? We designed a research experiment to find out.

We were startled to discover that raccoons were intrinsically motivated to solve multiple puzzles within a 20-minute trial, even when finding a solution did not directly lead to an irresistible marshmallow.

Innovative brains, like primates

Raccoons often engage in problem-solving when foraging in human-dominated areas, and have several adaptations that allow them to do this.

First, they have a high number of neurons packed into a relatively small brain. Their neuronal density is more similar to that of primates than other carnivores.

They also have highly dexterous forepaws adapted for foraging in streams, and a generalist diet that........

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