Cozumel, located off the eastern coast of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, is not just a lovely vacation spot; it is also home to one of the world’s most endangered raccoon species, the pygmy raccoon. This type of raccoon is smaller and different from those on the mainland, recognized by its wide black throat band and golden yellow tail. Recently, two young sister pygmy raccoons revealed something surprising to researchers—evidence of a skill being shared among animals.
Researchers from Miami University in Ohio, Nessie O’Neil and Michelle Szydlowski, along with Cozumel municipal ecologist Noel Anselmo Rivas-Camo, studied the effects of tourism on pygmy raccoons. Little is known about their social behavior or how they may learn from one another. The study focused on how the two young sisters interacted with toys they created from paper found in a trash bin. They soaked the paper in water and rolled it in the sand until it formed balls.
At a similar beach location, raccoons had access to water and paper trash, but they did not show the same ball-making behavior. This finding suggests that Cozumel raccoons might learn to use objects from one another.
Researchers watched the sisters at the beach club, where they collected paper waste such as napkins and receipts. They dipped the paper in a stainless-steel bowl filled with water, which was provided by the staff. Then, using their small front paws, they rolled the paper on the sandy ground, repeating the process to create ball-shaped objects that they played with. One sister started the process while the other closely observed her. The second raccoon attempted to imitate her, retrieving paper from the waste bin, but her sister took the paper from her and made the ball. After the first sister was taken away, the second sister completed the entire process by herself a few days later. The researchers recorded 64 hours of observation, noting 14 attempts to make balls and 8 successful creations, giving a success rate of 57.1%.
The researchers also saw a raccoon, presumably the mother, trying to make a ball. However, she stopped when she could not retrieve the paper from the bowl of water. An interesting detail included in the study was that the mother raccoon had taken a sip of a margarita left unattended, which may have affected her ability to perform the task.
Additionally, the sisters and their presumed mother played with the balls six times. On one occasion, two baby coatis joined the fun, running after the ball and rolling it with their paws.
These observations, though preliminary, provide important insight into the behavior of Cozumel’s endangered pygmy raccoons. The researchers believe this behavior might indicate social learning in these raccoons. What do you think about this unusual behavior?
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Source: Bored Panda, by Aleksandra