This past Sunday morning I binged watched three more episodes of the Wild Kingdom, and once again I’ve learned some astounding things about animal intelligence. This episode focused mainly on primates like chimpanzees per the title, but experiments, observations, and in-depth studies on them are pretty well known. Most people are aware that they share much of our DNA (97% in fact!) and have other traits in common with humans such as large brains in relation to body size, hands with fingers and thumbs similar to ours, can create and use tools much as we do, and have dental structures fairly close to ours.
These are only a few examples of how closely primates are related to humans, but I was more curious about the intelligence levels of other animals featured on this episode of Wild Kingdom. Everyone knows that cats and dogs also rate pretty high on the intelligence scale compared to many other animals. They are also more trainable than other species or they would obviously not be paired up with humans to be eyes for the blind, utilized in law enforcement and many other things. Of course, both cats and dogs are the favored companion animals for most people as they’ve been domesticated for so long.
However, what interested me the most about this Wild Kingdom episode was the sequence featuring the raccoon. For instance, until watching this episode I was unaware that raccoons could play basketball! (It also showed a duck playing a drum, but I digress). After watching this I was curious to read more on raccoons to learn more about their intelligence and ability to play games. Typically, they come to mind for resembling bandits with their mask-like eyes and ingenuity in scavenging. These were my main thoughts about them too, but they are also one of the world’s most far-ranging animals as well which came as a surprise.
They were common in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York where I grew up, and remembered seeing them around John Pennekamp State Park in the Florida Keys while on vacation years ago. While I knew that raccoons range throughout the United States and much of Canada, I didn’t imagine their habitant ranges all through Mexico and Central America. I believed they were native to temperate forests like the Adirondacks or Appalachia, not living in rain forest regions. While researching this post I also found out that over time they had been introduced to Central Europe, the Caucasus regions of Armenia and Azerbaijan and even to Japan.
Although the Wild Kingdom episode briefly touched on the intelligence and habits of raccoons, I was spurred to further research which showed that they are among the most adaptable, resilient and problem solving animals on Earth and can live in virtually any climate, anywhere. This is especially true as they often live in close proximity to humans, and are not intimidated by dense urban areas. Although I don’t see them in my Phoenix neighborhood so far, I’ll now keep in mind that having a great fondness for trash cans— raccoons can supposedly break into almost any type of container except those with complicated locks!
Apparently, since they are more adept than most mammals at problem solving they can remember how they solved whatever obstacle they encountered for up to three years. When I learn intriguing things like this, I look forward to watching another Wild Kingdom episode next Sunday morning to see what other amazing animals I can learn more about!
P.S. Check out Pinterest to watch videos of raccoons 🦝 jumping on backyard trampolines and sliding down playground 🛝 equipment! To see funny raccoon 🦝 videos visit: https://wwwhttps://www.pinterest.com
