I wish I had the pictures to tell the whole story. If you have ever wondered whether or not animals can engage in creative thinking, I have the answer: They can.
The urban raccoon was looking for a drink. The bird bath offered water but it was difficult to reach. After awkwardly drinking while hanging from the bowl for a few minutes, the raccoon climbed a nearby tree, climbed out on a limb over the bird bath and, when well out towards the end of the branch, it sagged and the raccoon hopped down to the bird bath and to the water
Years ago, in the late '60s, I there was a course at the University of Windsor that taught animals were incapable of true thinking. I raised an example of an action similar to this raccoon's, which, by climbing a tree and moving away from the goal (water in the bird bath), seems to be taking an approach requiring creative and not instinctive thinking.
The professor got angry and banished any more questions of that ilk. He used bluster to hide the fact that he had no ready answer: animals might well think and creatively too.
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