In our neck of the woods... Raccoon ingenuity, Part 2

A few days ago, I posted about the abundant raccoons and their young that like to invade our deck, looking for anything edible (including sugar water for the hummingbirds). Well, here is further proof of their determination and smarts.

We have a corn feeder that throws a handful of corn twice per day to give the deer and turkeys a nice treat. The 30-gallon feeder hangs from a winch system chained to a tree. Well, the winch finally gave up the ghost (the gears stripped), and I had to leave the feeder hanging near the ground while I ordered a replacement winch.

After only one day, we saw that a raccoon had figured out it could reach those few kernels of corn that always remain in the small space below the spinner and on top of the motor. Usually, there will be a dozen or so kernels sitting there. But the raccoon kept getting more corn... and more... and more.

I grabbed my camera and zoomed in on the critter. That's when I saw it had figured out how to manually turn the spinner and make more corn fall out onto the little platform. And more corn. And more.

Well, the winch arrived, so I guess I need to fix it so I can once again crank the feeder up out of the raccoon's reach. But, I'm wondering... now that the little genius has learned this trick, will it figure out a way to reach out from the tree and get unlimited corn? It would be a stretch, but we ARE talking about a raccoon here. The moment the critter sees that I've raised the feeder, one thought will go through it's little brain: Challenge accepted.