Toronto ’s “ racoon - resistant ” garbage fanny are n’t as in effect as city officials hoped . AsNPRreports , the self - proclaimed “ racoon capital of the world ” has been ineffectual to outwit some of the metropolis ’s cleverest " trash pandas . "
For years , Torontonians have contend to contend with the metropolis ’s booming raccoon population and its insatiable appetite for erstwhile pizza , overripe bananas , and just about everything else that gets fuddle out with the trash . In 2016 , the city pass CA$31 million ( about US$ 24 million ) on waste BIN that were especially designed to keep furry scavenger out . To open one up , a revolve handle on the lid must be turned to distract a gravity lock . The Bob Hope was that raccoons , which lack apposable thumbs , would n’t be able to break in .
Cameras cast doubt on that theory . In a heist that would makeNational Treasure ’s Nicolas Cage lofty , footage uploaded to YouTube by theToronto Starshows a dictated mama raccoon cracking the code to launch the lid and get to the good hooey inside .
Even without thumbs , racoon have agile manus . On top of that , urban raccoon boast some serious street smarts . One studyby raccoon expert Suzanne MacDonald revealed that raccoons lie with to avoid in use intersections , and another field recover that city racoon are ripe than their country counterparts at figuring out how to give refuse can lids .
inquiry from the former 1900s showed that raccoons could crack 11 out of 13 whorl — which included latches , lever , release , hook , and bolts — to open a box with food inside . As for the episode seen above , Toronto officials and an employee from the garbage can company said broken bins are to blame . The faulty ABA transit number was exchange , but the photographic camera kept rolling , and footage showed that raccoons were able to knock over and break into the new bin , too .
This time , the bin manufacturer find fault the rupture on a faulty grip . On the bright side , the urban center report that these break - ins are n’t far-flung . Out of nearly 500,000 bins , only 24 racoon - related problems were report .
MacDonald has been tracking whether the city ’s “ very rich ” raccoons have lost any weight since the unexampled bins have been roll out . While the results are n’t yet conclusive , “ they ’re not starve to death , that ’s for indisputable , ” she toldToronto Starreporter Amy Dempsey .
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