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A racoon is the reason my cats live behind a flap/door controlled by an rfid reader. Prior to its deployment the racoon had learned to squeeze through the door then figured out how to open the latch on the food bin (quite difficult for a human to open). If I didn't have video of it opening the bin I'd have doubted it were possible. As mentioned in the article it looked as if it had rehearsed the unlatching ahead of time.

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All I think about when I hear and see these stories of raccoons being so slick:

1: I completely understand the trope of the burger/heist person looking like a raccoon and

2. I can't help but to think how useful they might be in search and rescue type scenarios. Or even just the terrain mapping aspect of it.

The problem with number 2 is that they're trainable until they don't want to be. Think like a cat, but smarter, with opposable thumbs, and a genetic vendetta against human made structures and humanity in general.

Search and rescue would almost immediately become search, weirdly touch the face of victims with their weird little hands to see if they can defend themselves, eat part of the victim, rescue.

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