system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: What did Racoons do before becoming city dwellers, how did they adapt so well and learn so much?

Seriously though, how did a completely  wild, undomesticated animal become so good at scavenging in an urban environment?

They'd be breaking most instinct.
gpt
>They'd be breaking most instinct.

They're acting *completely* in line with their instincts.

Racoons are smart, versatile omnivores (they'll eat meat, plants, bugs, whatever). Before people were around they'd hunt bugs, worms, sometimes birds, or rats, and eat nuts and fruit. They steal eggs out of nests and mostly lived around rivers, where they do that cool thing where they wash food with their teeny little racoon-hands.

They are one of those animals that have done pretty well in adapting to people and urbanisation. Foxes, (Australian) possums, and some monkeys have similarly used thier natural scavenger instincts and versatility to thrive in heavily populated areas.