Pet raccoon washing his grapes (to feel shape and texture of food)

This pet raccoon washing his grapes is pretty cool. He has to wash his fruit before he snacks on it. The Swedish word for raccoon is tvättbjörn, which literally means "washing-bear". It is also washing bear in many other languages.

It's funny. It's like the raccoon knows our foods are sprayed with tons of different chemicals. Raccoons look like they are too smart for their own good. Raccoons could open fridges and take the food. Raccoons could mess with possessions as if they were their own.

Such raccoons could inspire other humans to wash grapes, too.

Raccoons certainly usually wet and "wash" their food before eating it. People often think that they are washing their food, but that is not the reason for the habit, it seems. Researchers say that raccoons wet their food to gather more sensory information about it from nerve endings in their paws. Experts believe that moistening food enhances a raccoon's understanding of what it is eating. They are making their paws more sensitive to touch, so they can take in more information (such as shape and texture) about what they're about to eat.