Pet raccoon? Don’t trash the idea until you watch this

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Raccoons as pets? Don’t laugh.

A new study has found that urban raccoons have shorter snouts compared to their rural counterparts — a sign they're heading down the same path of evolutionary domestication that dogs and cats did tens of thousands of years ago.

TorontoToday reporter Emma Johnston-Wheeler dug a little deeper into the research, seeking out reaction in a city where the raccoon has risen to the status of de facto mascot.

Johnston-Wheeler is our guest on tonight’s episode of Village Media’s Closer Look podcast.

Hosted by Village Media’s Michael Friscolanti and Scott Sexsmith, and produced by Derek Turner, Closer Look is a new daily podcast that goes way beyond the headlines with insightful, in-depth conversations featuring our reporters and editors, leading experts, key stakeholders and big newsmakers.

Fresh episodes drop every Monday to Friday at 7 p.m. right in your local news feed — and on the show’s dedicated website: closerlookpodcast.ca. Of course, you can also find us wherever you get your favourite podcasts.

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Have something to say? Please reach out. Our email address is closerlook@villagemedia.ca.