SREL Reprint #3839

Wild racoons are more innovative but not bolder than another generalist, the Virginia opossum, on a pull-string task

Kristy A. Adaway1, Matthew H. Snider2, Candace Vinciguerra2, Caitlin A. Kupferman3, James C. Beasley3,
and F. Blake Morton1

1Department of Psychology, University of Hull, Hull, UK
2Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, North Carolina State University, USA
3Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia, USA

Abstract: Humans are altering natural environments at unprecedented rates. Ecological generalism is one of the strongest predictors of survival in light of these changes, which in animals, may be shaped by bold and innovative behaviours. Species with greater habitat generalism are proposed to behave more boldly (e.g. touching and ingesting novel food). Species with greater dietary generalism are proposed to behave more innovatively (e.g. novel problem-solving to access food). Support for both hypotheses exists but remains largely restricted to broad comparisons between generalists and specialists. Further comparative data are needed to understand the extent to which these behavioural patterns might shape more nuanced ecological variation between species, such as species with finer-scale niche differences. We compared bold and innovative behaviour in two wild sympatric generalists, the Northern racoon, Procyon lotor, and the Virginia opossum, Didelphis virginiana, using a pull-string task with strings and wires attached to vertical cups containing high-value food. Although both species are broadly classified as generalists, racoons show relatively greater habitat and dietary flexibility than opossums. Because they live sympatrically, it offers a unique opportunity to test, at the same time and locations, whether these finer-scale niche differences are reflective of differences in their bold and innovative behaviour. We predicted that racoons would show bolder behaviour (in terms of touching our novel task) and more innovative behaviour (in terms of solving it). We found that both species were equally likely to acknowledge and touch the task, but racoons were more likely to show innovation to access the food. Racoons' propensity for using innovation to solve novel foraging challenges may contribute to their greater ecological flexibility compared with opossums. More broadly, our findings may help explain differences in how each species adapts to environmental changes.

Keywords: behavioural adaptability; boldness; human-driven environmental change; innovation; novel object; problem solving

SREL Reprint #3839

Adaway, K. A., M. H. Snider, C. Vinciguerra, C. A. Kupferman, J. C. Beasley, and F. B. Morton. 2025. Wild racoons are more innovative but not bolder than another generalist, the Virginia opossum, on a pull-string task. Animal Behaviour 227(123279).

This information was provided by the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (srel.uga.edu).