These articles make it sound like raccoons are really stupid. I am very surprised at that. I thought that basically most animals have a built it survival mechanism to help them survive. I can understand the reasoning with squirrels because like the article said, they have a food stash and if they loose that by relocating, they basically have no food unless they find some trees that still have some acorns on them. I guess it depends on the animal. I have seen an occasional raccoon on my property but they have not dug up or messed with any of my plants. Now, skunks will dig holes in my lawn looking for grubs or worms but I really don't care if they do or not. Growing grass is not a priority of mine. Have these animals been banded to actually see if they die within 2 weeks or is someone camping in the woods watching them for 2 weeks to see if they do die???