A video posted on Facebook this past weekend, which shows a raccoon opening a green bin touted as “raccoon proof” in less than 30 seconds, proves these critters are unstoppable when hungry.
The video was posted by Graeme Boyce, a Scarborough resident, who said he was alerted to the presence of the green-bin-bandit after some toboggans, which had been placed on top of the bin, were tossed aside.
The bins are manufactured by the Rehrig Pacific Company and are indeed meant to keep the critters out with a twist handle.
However, the twist handle doesn’t seem to be a match for this hungry raccoon, which can be seen twisting it with ease before climbing directly into the bin to enjoy a hearty meal.
Mayor John Tory said he spoke with officials and this is not a widespread problem. He said the bins have actually been performing quite well.
“The performance of these bins, in terms of how long they’re lasting through all the hustle and bustle of them going to the street and back and being put up on the trucks, is they’re doing extremely well.”
Jim Mckay, general manager of solid waste management services with the City of Toronto, said he was impressed by the “ingenuity and dexterity of this raccoon.”
“The bins were designed to be animal-resistant versus animal-proof. However it shouldn’t be that easy for a raccoon to move the handle, especially if the bin was in the correct locked position,” he said.
Meanwhile Tory said out of 450,000 bins across the city, they’ve had only a handful of complaints.
Still, he cautioned against consorting with the enemy. “Those who’ve posted the video are running the risk of making information available to others in the raccoon population that may take advantage of that.”
Scarborough was the first to receive these new bins in an estimated $31-million contract between Rehrig Pacific and the City of Toronto.