Toronto has been dubbed the raccoon capital of the world

Sep 18 2018, 8:31 pm

Whether you like them or not, raccoons are slowly taking over Toronto.

In fact, Toronto’s curious trash panda’s have garnered so much attention that National Public Radio has officially dubbed Toronto as the ‘Raccoon Capital of the World’ in a recent article.

In 2016, the City of Toronto spent $31 million on “raccoon resistant” organic green-coloured bins, rolling them out to 450,000 residents throughout the city.

The new bins feature special locking lids and latches, which were designed to keep furry scavengers out. And you would assume the bins would work, considering a rotating handle on the lid must be turned to unhinge a gravity lock.

According to NPR, the hope was that raccoons, which lack opposable thumbs, wouldn’t be able to break in, hopefully putting an end to the city’s growing raccoon problem.

However, Toronto’s curious critters have serious street smarts and have learned to adapt to the new bins, with many raccoons able to break into the green bins effortlessly.

And while the newer bins did help ease the growing raccoon problem, Toronto’s curious critters aren’t definitely aren’t struggling to find food, according to a recent study from Sudbury’s Laurentian University.

In fact, the study found that Toronto’s raccoons are eating so much they’re substantially heavier, and on average, weigh two kilos more, than their suburban and rural counterparts.

Further showing that while Toronto continues to try and put a stop to its raccoon problem, they continue to stay one step ahead of us.

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