Malcolm Gladwell

Raccoons in the garbage. Raccoons on the train. Raccoons on the back deck.

Raccoons have taken over the attics in a whole street of houses and refused to leave. They brought traffic to a screeching halt on Toronto's highways and just stood there. They figured out how to open doors to houses and refrigerators and stood on top of countertops, leftovers in their paws, staring at freaked out homeowners as if to say, if I wanted you here, I would have rung the bell.

Raccoons have taken over the attics in a whole street of houses and refused to leave. They brought traffic to a screeching halt on Toronto's highways and just stood there. They figured out how to open doors to houses and refrigerators and stood on top of countertops, leftovers in their paws, staring at freaked out homeowners as if to say, if I wanted you here, I would have rung the bell.

Hence the pricey raccoon-resistant bins, which surely no raccoon would be able to open.

Hence the pricey raccoon-resistant bins, which surely no raccoon would be able to open.

Amy found herself wondering, how are raccoons smart enough to open that bin? This was the question a historian of science had found himself wondering one night when he looked at his back deck in Toronto and saw compost all over the place. He had an earlier version of the compost bin, but here too, the raccoons had picked the lock. Are they really just that smart? It turned out nobody really knew.

Amy found herself wondering, how are raccoons smart enough to open that bin? This was the question a historian of science had found himself wondering one night when he looked at his back deck in Toronto and saw compost all over the place. He had an earlier version of the compost bin, but here too, the raccoons had picked the lock. Are they really just that smart? It turned out nobody really knew.

Raccoons had hardly been studied, basically not at all compared to other animals like, say, rats or monkeys. This historian wanted to know why. The midnight raid on his compost bin would set in motion a sequence of events that in my own estimation have come to topple an entire century of psychological theory and restored the raccoon to its proper place.

Raccoons had hardly been studied, basically not at all compared to other animals like, say, rats or monkeys. This historian wanted to know why. The midnight raid on his compost bin would set in motion a sequence of events that in my own estimation have come to topple an entire century of psychological theory and restored the raccoon to its proper place.

the dead center of how we understand human beings.

the dead center of how we understand human beings.

Many historians of science will write about the greats. Einstein, Freud, Oppenheimer, the kind of research project not usually begun while scooping up trash in your bathrobe on your back deck in Toronto. But Michael Pettit's always gotten into things sideways.

Many historians of science will write about the greats. Einstein, Freud, Oppenheimer, the kind of research project not usually begun while scooping up trash in your bathrobe on your back deck in Toronto. But Michael Pettit's always gotten into things sideways.

Pettit is a historian of psychology at York University in Toronto.

Pettit is a historian of psychology at York University in Toronto.

Pettit knew all about scientists putting rats in mazes and puzzly cages, the mainstream stuff. Who cares? But in all his studies, he had never heard of a raccoon in a puzzle box. And yet here on his deck was evidence that they were basically able to outsmart any human system.

Pettit knew all about scientists putting rats in mazes and puzzly cages, the mainstream stuff. Who cares? But in all his studies, he had never heard of a raccoon in a puzzle box. And yet here on his deck was evidence that they were basically able to outsmart any human system.

Michael was curious for good reason, not just because of the locks situation. We've basically never known quite what to make of raccoons.

Michael was curious for good reason, not just because of the locks situation. We've basically never known quite what to make of raccoons.

For a while, there wasn't even consensus on how exactly they evolved. The famous naturalist Carl Linnaeus called them Ursus Loder, or washer bear, because they liked to rinse their food in water and he thought they descended from bears. Now, for any true raccoon fans out there, I should note that, yes, they aren't actually washing their food.