Raccoons solve puzzles just for fun, new research says

Do you love puzzles? And prizes? Well so do raccoons, and new research suggests they're genuinely curious about solving them, even if there's no reward.

A new study has found raccoons are curious creatures who try out all sorts of tactics to get to the end of a puzzle.

They play it safe when the stakes are high though - even when snacks aren't involved.

This behaviour suggests they had a reason to problem solve other than hunger and is described as "information foraging".

Scientists set up a multi-access puzzle box with mechanisms such as latches, sliding doors and knobs for the raccoons.

The box had nine entry points, grouped as easy, medium and hard.

The racoons each had 20 minutes to solve the the puzzle box which contained a single marshmallow.

But interestingly raccoons often continued opening new mechanisms after eating the marshmallow.

"We weren't expecting them to open all three solutions in a single trial," said Hannah Griebling, who co-led the study.

"They kept problem solving even when there was no marshmallow at the end."

When solutions to the puzzles were easy, the raccoons tried multiple solutions, but as the difficulty increased, they favoured a dependable solution.

"It's a pattern familiar to anyone ordering at a restaurant," Griebling said. "Do you order your favourite dish or try something new? If the risk is high - an expensive meal you might not like - you choose the safe option.

"Raccoons explore when the cost is low and quickly decide to play it safe when the stakes are higher."