Raccoons have an endless buffet of urban trash. New evidence hints it could be sparking domestication

Researchers focused on raccoons' snout lengths to see whether the animals in urban areas might be diverging from their country kin. jfox16

The clever, adaptable urban raccoon may be evolving a shorter snout — a key physical trait of pets and other domesticated animals . The new finding describes what a biologist says could be the first account of domestication in its earliest stages.

For Raffaela Lesch, an assistant professor at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, inspiration struck while she was walking around the campus. She had tossed a can into a waste bin, and it landed with a thud instead of a clang. Soon, Lesch realized why, as a raccoon — aka a “trash panda” — popped its head out of the garbage.

Lesch reflected on how prevalent and comfortable raccoons can be in urban