RSS

The 8 most memorable Toronto raccoon moments from the last year

2:41 PM | Labels: , , , , ,

Luckily for Toronto raccoons, a global pandemic and the resulting shutdown of the city in 2020 were of no business to our resident critters, who continued on with their regular old antics for the duration of the year.

As in any other year, a handful of the city's furry little masked mascots caught our attention and our hearts this year when they broke into stores, got themselves into tricky situations or otherwise entertained us by getting up to the various forms of mischief they're known for.

As the dawn of 2021 approaches, here are some of the most memorable raccoon moments in T.O. from the past 12 months.

Tim Hortons raccoon

Times have been tough for us all this year, with forced business closures leaving millions out of work for weeks on end — including, apparently, one resident raccoon.

Being a diligent creature and all, he or she decided to try their hand at a job behind the counter of a Tim Hortons on the Danforth despite not having actually been hired.

The nightboi spent a few minutes rifling through some cupboards, to the chagrin of actual Timmie's employees, who took a while figuring out the best way to get the industrious animal off the premises.

Swimming pool raccoon

This little guy decided to cool off from the summer heat by doing some laps around a neighbour's pool back in July. He even waded in using the steps as the homeowners laughed and filmed from afar, and insisted on hopping back in not just one, but two times after he was herded out and onto the safety of solid ground with the help of a pool skimmer.

Segway raccoon

No, a raccoon wasn't spotting riding a Segway down Toronto streets of his own volition. But, a raccoon was rescued from walking into traffic and lifted by the scruff out of harm's way by one brave man on a Segway in October, making for one of the most bizarre and hilarious local videos of the year. Someone even created some fan art to commemorate the incident.

Crane raccoon

If there's one thing more synonymous with Toronto than raccoons, it's construction cranes demolishing all of our favourite hangouts to slap up sky-high condos.

This trash panda in particular got themselves in quite a bit of trouble after scaling a construction crane in the downtown core, getting stuck dozens of stories up on a hot August day.

They ended up finding a way back down on their own after a solid 12+ hours up there.

Raccoon on a bridge

CityPlace locals were carefully monitoring this critter, who managed to somehow get stuck on the Puente de Luz pedestrian bridge that runs over the railroad tracks between Front Street and Iceboat Terrace. Some cited having seen the raccoon up there for multiple days in a row.

Calls to 311 were of no avail, nor was a wooden board propped up with a line of timbits to lure the animal down.

Eventually, staff from the Toronto Wildlife Centre showed up to help, but the racoon, as they tend to do, had gotten free all on its own.

Jewelry store robbery raccoon

When a Toronto jewelry and bead retailer opened up shop to find that someone had broken into their store overnight, they were devastated.

But, upon checking the security footage, they realized that fortunately, nothing had actually been stolen.

The reason? The would-be thief, being a raccoon and all, did not have the benefit of opposable thumbs to actually get away with anything. So, he or she simply settled for a playful romp around the store before setting off to cause trouble somewhere else.

Panic shopper raccoon

Whether this raccoon was grabbing some last-minute items before Toronto moved into grey-level lockdown in November or was simply trying to get out of one of the first snowfalls of the season, they were caught scampering around the aisles of a Best Buy in Leaside.

Employees had to try and usher the soaked pal out of the store, but he or she was not having it. After a bit of a struggle, staff managed to slip a box over the animal and bring him outside — where they took breaks to check on him — before giving up on waiting for animal services and just setting him free.

Raccoon in a coat cocoon

Just one day after the Segway raccoon rocked the internet, a new series of videos emerged showing yet another harrowing raccoon rescue, this time by a woman at the corner of King and Shaw Streets.

After several long minutes during which various residents tried to shoo the wandering mammal out of the busy intersection, one passerby simply corralled the dude up against a storefront and tossed her coat overtop of him, making him into a little raccoon burrito that she then carried off to safety.




  • Digg
  • Del.icio.us
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • RSS

0 comments:

Post a Comment