The "They Can Do What??" Story

I was recently reading a story titled "Matching wits with rascally -- and smart -- raccoons."  Story was featured on Lancaster's Jack Brubaker's "The Scribbler" newspaper column.  Story began with ... Raccoons can open 11 of 13 complex locks on one box in fewer than 10 attempts.  These locks include bolts, hooks, lift latches, levers and other devices that must be manipulated in a precise order to be opened.  Those are the extraordinary results of a lengthy study by the ethnologist H.B. Davis in 1907.  His findings have been replicated in more recent studies.  So, it was not a big surprise to the Scribbler when, a couple of years ago, he found that a securely fixed metal cap had been removed from a can of bird seed.   The seed, what was left of it, was spread all over his deck.  The birds and squirrels must have enjoyed a merry picnic.  That is, after the raccoon had his fill.  Raccoons are the only animals in the woods with paws agile enough to "unlock" a metal can, turn it over and create havoc.  To prevent a repeat, he brought the can inside the house.  He also wrote that...his bird feeder was hoisted high in the air, several feet below the eve of our roof, to keep squirrels from staging raids.  This is done by a pulley system, with the hoisting rope coiled around a hook at the edge of the deck.  The thin rope that pulls the bird feeder up and down is extra long.  Mrs. Scribbler doesn't like to cut a good piece of rope, so they have a significant coil on the hook on the deck beneath the eve.  One morning last week he found the coil of excess rope stretched as far as it would go, across the deck and a gravel path and down a few steps toward the floodplain of the Little Conestoga Creek.  There is only one eplanation for that.  A dexterous, devious, devilish raccoon decided to haul the rope as far as he could, hoping he would shake down some food.  He knows where the culprit lives, apparently with a small family.  The raccoons nest is in a cavity about 30 feet up the trunk of an ash tree about 30 feet from their home.  They just happened to see two of the "masked bandits" peeking out from the tree a few months ago.  The Scribblers live on a bluff overlooking the creek.  They are accustomed to watching a variety of wildlife wander through the woods and along a tree-lined path that runs for about a mile along the water.  They see multiple creatures in that stretch, including deer, foxes, groundhogs, muskrats, beavers, snakes and skunks.  Just a few weeks ago, the Scribbler spotted a mink.  The animal streaked from the woods, across a neighbor's yard, to the edge of the creek.  Sleek and ultra-thin, the mink stood on its hind legs and stared at the Scribbler.  They looked at each other for at least a minute.  Then the slinky creature dropped to four feet and scooted off into the water beneath the debris of a downed tree.  The mink was special, but the rope-tugging raccoon beats everything.  It would be interesting to have a conversation with an animal that can open locks, pry lids off metal cans and tug ropes as far as they'll stretch.  And the raccoon would remember such a conversation.   Multiple studies indicate a raccoon can remember the solutions to complex tasks for at least three years.  So the animal would have no excuse not to recall a lecture about trying to steal bird seed.  Fantastic story by the Scribbler!  I enjoy each and every one of his stories and always look forward to the next one.  Keep up the great story telling!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.