Exposure to humans and task difficulty levels affect wild raccoons (Procyon lotor) learning

Cognition helps wildlife exploit novel resources and environments. Raccoons (Procyon lotor) have successfully adapted to human presence in part due to their cognitive abilities. However, close interactions between humans and wildlife can create conflicts. A better understanding of the raccoon’s behavioral flexibility and learning ability could improve the mitigation of those conflicts. Learning can be evaluated over multiple exposures to a cognitive task. Our objective is to evaluate wild raccoons learning in contexts varying in terms of exposure to humans (recreational and preservation zoning within protected areas) and task difficulty. We used two food extraction tasks to measure how problem-solving performance varied between trials based on success probability and time to solve the puzzles., Field work We conducted experiments in three protected areas located in southern Québec, Canada (all located around latitude 45.6° N and between longitude 72.6° and 75.2° W): Plaisance (28 km2), Îles-de-Boucherville (8 km2) and Yamaska (13 km2) national parks. These parks are considered to have a high density of raccoons, causing “severe” nuisance problems (Denis 2017; Dellarosa 2012). All these parks are relatively small, encompassed in mostly urban or agricultural territories, and border large bodies of water (river or lake). Two site categories are studied based on management zoning: intensive recreation and preservation zones. Recreation zones were defined by the presence of camping sites, vehicular circulation at low speed (<20 km/h), campfires, dumpsters, and a mosaic of ground cover (gravel or paved roads, parking lots, forests, open fields, buildings, playgrounds). Preservation zones were strictly accessible to the public by walking and biking trails, with extensive forest co..., , # Data from: Exposure to humans and task difficulty levels affect wild raccoons (Procyon lotor) learning [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.tqjq2bw5n](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.tqjq2bw5n) Behavioral data of wild raccoons interacting with puzzle boxes to assess their learning ability. We have submitted our data (P lotor Learning QC). NA (\"not available\") means it was not possible to determine the value or outcome from the video recordings. Day: Calendar day of start of trial Month: Calendar month of start of trial Year: Calendar year of trial Time Start: Time of start of trial (HH:MM:SS) Park: National park where the study was conducted Zone: Zoning within the national park where the study was conducted * Recreational: presence of camping sites, vehicular circulation at low speed (<20 km/h), campfires, dumpsters, and a mosaic of ground cover (gravel or paved roads, parking lots, forests, open fields, buildings, playgrounds) * Preservation: strictly accessible to the publ...