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I'm afraid I was on the road and missed the show. I'll catch the local repeat this weekend.  

I think your comments on the language used in the show are very telling. They have a lot to say about reasons for the general publics misunderstandings about evolution.  These critter may be adapting to the urban environment in many ways but that is certainly quite different than what goes on during biological evolution.  In fact when the cities are all rubble and dust it may be the raccoons that avoided man that survive or evolve into a next species.

The words Adaptation and Evolution have become overly intertwined.  Unfortunately we are still dealing with the dated idea of "survival of the fittest" and social Darwinism contiues to exist in the hearts and minds of all too many people in power.  But I digress...

Here is my raccoon anecdote:  About 12 years ago we were renovating a home in Hastings-on-Hudson, Ny. Every night the raccoons would come and make a loud racket in the big dumpster.  I would turn the porch light on, come out, and yell at them. After a few days I realized they just wanted me to turn the light on.  They would keep on rummaging, but quietly, once they had extra light.

Erich Rose

Erich Rose Design
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On Nov 1, 2012, at 10:51 AM, Jennie Dusheck wrote:

> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
> *****************************************************************************
> 
> I watched Raccoon Nation last night and enjoyed it very much. The raccoons are fascinating to watch. But I was puzzled by the repeated statements that the urban raccoons were evolving into something completely different from rural raccoons. I don't remember the researchers presenting any evidence that the raccoons are in fact different, either genetically or otherwise.  Have they studied the rural ones in as much detail? Is there any concrete change in phenotype?  Selection seems likely in some situations but didn't appear to be demonstrated. 
> 
> The idea of super intelligent raccoons seems like pure speculation, since for all we know, the ones in the woods are already really smart. Also, there's a graphic near the end of what appears to be hundreds (?) of territories superimposed over Toronto neighborhoods, but they said they only collared 5 raccoons in this preliminary study. So either I missed something, or that was poetic license. They also said that they don't know if raccoons opening garbage cans was learned or instinctive. Given the apparent speculation in other areas, it seemed strange to pull back on something that Occam's razor would suggest is learned behavior.  
> 
> Great footage of raccoons, but I would take the science with a grain of salt (pending evidence not presented in the show).
> 
> Jennie Dusheck
> 
> On Oct 31, 2012, at 8:50 PM, Charles Carlson wrote:
> 
>> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
>> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
>> *****************************************************************************
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>>> 
>>> Hi There,
>>> 
>>> This Nature program is a really great study on urban raccoons around the world.  It's a fascinating example of evolution in action that's dramatically reshaping our urban environment.  It's well worth a watch.  You'll have to find it.  It's really good and highly relevant.
>>> 
>>> C
>>> 
>>> Sent from Charlie's iPad
>>> 
>>> Berkeley, CA
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>>> 
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