City Raccoons: Why the Short Face?

Shorter snouts on city raccoons show they’re becoming tamer than forest raccoons.

A young raccoon sits on a garbage pile in Germany.

Raccoon faces are instantly recognizable: their mask-like facial markings and habit of rummaging in trash bins has earned them the affectionate nickname “trash bandit.” New research shows that the face of the trash bandit is changing—literally! Biologists say urban raccoons now have shorter faces than their forest-dwelling peers, meaning they could be in early stages of domestication. In other words, they’re becoming tamer.

In the wild, raccoons will eat nearly anything they can from plants or animals. In an urban environment—meaning in a city or town—the easiest place to find food is in garbage cans.

“Wherever humans go, there is trash. Animals love our trash. All they have to do is endure our presence, not be aggressive, and then they can feast on anything we throw away,” said Raffaela Lesch, a biologist at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in the United States.

A wild raccoon in a body of water

Lesch wondered whether city raccoons were physically changing because of this human connection. Leading a team of biologists, Lesch helped analyze thousands of raccoon images. The research showed that raccoons living in or near cities and towns had shorter snouts.

This means city raccoons could be on the same pathway to domestication as dogs and house cats, who also have shorter snouts and smaller jaws than their wild relatives. These changes occurred as the wild dog and cat ancestors grew tamer.

A group of raccoons investigates a trash can in the U.S. state of Florida.

Though humans are not actively trying to tame raccoons, Lesch’s research shows that simply living in human environments is causing a physical change in these animals.

Lesch said it would be fitting if our next domesticated species were raccoons. “I feel like it would be funny if we called the domesticated version of the raccoon the trash panda.”

Did You Know?

Raccoons will sometimes “wash” their food in water—but not to clean the food. Instead, the water helps their paws feel the food so that they know what they are eating.

A raccoon washes its food in a stream.

New Year Celebrations Around the World

A man hangs red lanterns in Suqian, Jiangsu province, China, in preparation for Lunar New Year celebrations.

3, 2, 1… Happy New Year! It may seem like people across the globe welcome the new year with fireworks at midnight on January 1, but not all cultures celebrate this way. In fact, they may not celebrate the start of a new year on the first of January! Here are just some of the ways people around the world say goodbye to the old year and hello to the new.

Lunar New Year

Put on your best red clothes for the Lunar New Year! Celebrated in many Asian countries and communities, the Lunar New Year usually falls between January 21 and February 20, which follows the historic Chinese lunar calendar. Vibrant red decorations signify joy and good fortune!

Yennayer

Bonfires are lit for Yennayer, a holiday celebrated across North African countries. Yennayer takes place on January 12 each year, and rituals like the bonfire symbolize cleansing the old year and renewal for the year to come.

A group of people celebrate Yennayer in Algeria.

Rosh Hashanah

The blowing of a ram’s horn, called a shofar, initiates Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. It’s traditional for people of the Jewish faith to eat apples dipped in honey and say a blessing for a sweet new year during this holiday.

Family members blow into shofars at a Rosh Hashanah service at a synagogue (a building where Jewish religious services are held).

Matariki

Time for some stargazing! The new year begins for the Indigenous people of New Zealand, called the Māori, when a constellation of stars appears in the night sky in June or July. The stars and the holiday share the same name: Matariki.

People prepare for stargazing ahead of Matariki in New Zealand.

Enkutatash

Ethiopians celebrate the new year—Enkutatash—not just on a different date but also in a different year! Using a different calendar than the rest of the world, people in Ethiopia celebrated the start of their calendar year 2018 on September 11, 2025.

A group of girls wear yellow flowers, a symbol of the new year, as they sing in celebration of Enkutatash.

What Year Is It?

The Aztec people of Mexico carved this stone hundreds of years ago. Researchers once believed that the stone was meant to be a calendar.

How did humans who lived thousands of years ago keep track of the months and years? Some tracked the Moon, while others used the seasons! Learn more at Britannica about how ancient cultures like the Maya and ancient Egyptians made calendars.

WORD OF THE DAY

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