Long before rats dominated psychology labs, raccoons were actually a leading candidate for animal models of problem-solving and intelligence. What’s going on inside the raccoon brain? Scaled up to size, a raccoon brain would contain roughly the same number of neurons as a human brain. In addition to their impressive brains, raccoons’ dexterous hands play a key role in their cognitively creative escapades. A willingness to lean away from anthropodenial – while remaining grounded in rigorous science – may open new paths for understanding raccoon intelligence and, ultimately, the wonderfully complex human brain.