Raccoons Of Toronto

  Toronto, Ontario, Canada is often referred to as the "Raccoon Capital of the World". We thought we would list some of the raccoons that we have encountered around the city.  We like the little guys, despite the fact that they tear up your garbage or scare you half to death with their screams as you walk around the side of the house at night. Here are some actual raccoons and artistic raccoon tributes that we have seen in Toronto.

Love Park

Love Park has many animal sculptures including the raccoon above.  Read More.

Emily May Rose

Artist Emily May Rose has painted her raccoons getting up to mischief on various walls around the city.  The critters above were found in Feel Good Lane.

  These groups were spotted on the wall of 1988 Davenport Road and across from Yonge Dundas Square.  We like how when the raccoons spray paint, it is usually to paint raccoons.

  These raccoons are brought to you by Guinness and located on Richmond Street West behind the Sheraton Centre.

 This driving raccoon is part of a bigger mural at the foot of University Ave.  Honk Honk!

Ripley's Aquarium of Canada

At Toronto's aquarium you will find these butterflyfish called raccoon butterflyfish in tribute to everyone's least favourite nocturnal invaders. Read More.

Santa Claus Parade

It is not an unusual sight to see raccoons walking down a Toronto street. We witnessed this group of raccoons during the annual Santa Claus Parade. Each one had a giant cookie on its arm. Read More.

Bay Christmas Windows

The Hudson Bay store on Queen Street West always has different Christmas windows. One year there were raccoons included amongst the creatures of the Enchanted Forest. Read More. 

Toronto Zoo Residents

The Toronto Zoo has a bunch of raccoons. Some live in the woods surrounding the zoo and some are permanent residents. The stump above has at least three raccoons piled up inside. The signage at the zoo informed us that the black mask around their eyes helps raccoons see better at night by reducing glare. It works in much the same way as a baseball outfielder putting black under their eyes to help them spot and catch fly balls.

A Micmac story says that the raccoon was caught stealing and as punishment had the black circles placed around his eyes to remind everyone of what he had done. This raccoon above is doing some hard time in the zoo's enclosure. If by hard time you mean sleeping all day and only waking up to be hand delivered your meals.

If you want to know what a raccoon feels like, the zoo sometimes has touch tables where you can feel animal fur. Raccoons have tiny whiskers on their toes which increases their ability to feel food in the dark.

Toronto Zoo Visitors

Other raccoons at the zoo are free to come and go as they wish. On many occassions we have had to warn people "Don't use that garbage bin, a raccoon just crawled in there". The zoo is located in the Rouge Valley so there are no shortage of wildlife visitors. These little guys were probably waiting for their mother to return with a treat from the trash.

This raccoon seemed not to mind the crowds walking around the zoo and was content to sit on a patch of grass and scratch itself.

This group of little guys chose to take a shortcut through one of the African enclosures. This can be a dangerous move. This enclosure happened to contain the harmless antelope called a Kudu and a disinterested vulture named Lloyd.

The enclosure is also home to the dreaded hornbill gang. This group of ground hornbills is intimidating as it marches around the enclosure. Raccoons are pretty fearless fighters so they may not be afraid, but no one wants to get a good pecking from these large birds.

Hay-lloween Town

  One year the Toronto Zoo had different characters made out of bales of hay. The beloved raccoon was also included.

STACKT Market

STACKT Market is made up of shipping containers. Inside are many different vendors.  The market is also known for its artwork. At the north end of the market on Bathurst Street you can find this painting of a raccoon.

Clover Hill Park

This raccoon shares Clover Hill Park with some snails, rabbits and a donkey wearing casts on its legs. Read More.

 Utility Boxes

These four utility box raccoons are from artist Jeff Blackburn. Clockwise they are a tourist raccoon with a camera at Church and Front, a toothy raccoon at the bottom of the Baldwin Steps, a trumpet holding raccoon outside of The Rex on Queen Street West.and a regular raccoon at Roncesvalles and High Park Blvd.

Another box in Scarborough can be found at Markham Rd. and Ellesmere. These raccoons are working together to reach new heights.

Daredevil Raccoon

 

Speaking of heights, this raccoon somehow managed to get itself on a ledge part-way up a building at Yonge & Eglinton. 

Porter Airlines

 

Porter Airlines is a local Toronto airline that used to operate smaller planes exclusively from Toronto Island Airport. Their mascot is a raccoon and he can be found all over the place. We believe that "orte" means scraps or possibly a small meal or snack.

His name is Mr. Porter and above he can be seen dressed as a Mountie advertising trips to Ottawa on the side of the free shuttle from Union Station to the airport.

Downsview Park

Downsview Park is home to many wild creatures, even in the winter. Rabbits, coyotes, hawks, owls, squirrels and a variety of small birds call the park home. Despite the bitter cold, this raccoon is fine just tucked against the trunk of a tree waiting for nightfall. Read More.

C.N.E.

 

In 2019 the Canadian National Exhibition had a series of painted raccoon statues. The raccoons were painted by different charity and commmunity groups. It was called Racoons Reimagined.

There is always a butter carving competition each year. This of course means a butter raccoon.

 

During a Home & Garden show on the CNE grounds there was a company selling baseball caps. This of course means a baseball cap wearing raccoon.

Royal Ontario Museum

 

 A racoon and a garbage bin spell trouble. Not to worry, this raccoon is a Royal Ontario Museum specimen and that is about as far as things are going to go. A live raccoon would easily tip that can over and spread the contents all over your front lawn with the help of a few of its friends. 

Runnymede Underpass

Just south of St. Clair Avenue West where Runnymede goes under the train tracks you will find a mural painted on both sides of the road. There are many animals n the mural including guess who?

  

Pink Kitchen

King Street West has added some roadside seating for pedestrians. As you approach Spadina Avenue there is a little pink kitchen that you can sit inside. There is also a little pink raccoon waiting for food to be prepared. Anything at all, it is not picky.

 

Little Canada

Little Canada has little scaled down models of places all across Canada. It has a Little Toronto which means it also has Little Toronto raccoons. This raccon is wearing a feather boa and a crown which means it must be the night before garbage day.

 

Holland Bloorview

Holland Bloorview is a Kids Rehabilitation Hospital. In its garden it has sculptures and artwork of little creatures that the children might enjoy. We enjoy both animals and art so this little raccoon and his friends also brought us some joy.

 

Footprints

Despite Toronto being full of raccoons, you may still have a hard time finding one. The next best thing is to find their footprints. Those tiny little toes leave a distinctive print. After it rains look for footprints in the mud.

 

In the winter look for footprints in the snow.

 

The best of all is after someone pours cement, look for little tiny footprints the following day. Just like these footprints, raccoons are a permanent part of life in Toronto.

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Map of Our World

Toronto Zoo , Raccoon On A Ledge
STACKT Market
Royal Ontario Museum , Little Canada , CNE
Feel Good Lane , Raccoon Building , Raccoons On Truck , Guinness Raccoons , Foot Of University Mural , Utility Box (Toothy Raccoon) , Utility Box (Raccoon with Trumpet) , Utility Box (Raccoon with Camera) , Utility Box (Raccoon Pile) , Utility Box (Raccoon) , Runnymede Underpass , King Street Seats (Pink Kitchen) , Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital

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Post # 331

Scenic Safari

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Address:  2000 Meadowvale Road
Date:  May 2020
Website:  www.torontozoo.com

  Since the Toronto Zoo was closed due to COVID-19 we have missed our visits.  The zoo finally reopened. Due to social distancing you can not walk around the zoo but must drive your car through instead.  We were one of the first to sign up for this unique opportunity.  We followed a long line of cars as we slowly made our way towards the front gate and then drove right inside.

  The zoo normally has a zoomobile that circles the grounds.  We mostly followed the same path that it takes with a few added diversions due to there being no pedestrians to worry about.  The first animal we drove towards was the Indian Rhino.  They were outside ready to greet us as we slowly rolled past.  An Indian Rhino can weigh over 1600 kg which is the same as our car.

  The next step was a highlight.  We got to drive on the long bridge that crosses over the Rouge Valley.  We kept the car straight and steady as we rumbled across.

The next animal we encountered was the Southern White Rhino.  We had now entered Africa.  We were glad that the rhino was behind a fence as we forgot to check if our insurance would cover us for collisions with a giant mammal while driving on zoo property.

  Usually if you come across something black and white on the road it means to slow down and watch for pedestrians.  One type of pedestrian crossing is called a zebra crossing.  On our Scenic Safari we didn't have to worry about people on the road, but there were a few black and white Grevy's Zebras nearby.

  A kopje is a small, rocky hill that sticks up from the African grasslands.  The Toronto Zoo has one that you can walk through.  Since this is the Scenic Safari that means this time we drove through.

  It was a bit of a tight fit, but we made it through the lion's den.  We didn't see any lions.   That doesn't mean the lions didn't see us.

  After we emerged from the kopje we passed a group of large antelope called Elands.  We also passed Ankole-Watusi Cattle which have some of the biggest horns of any animal.

  We still couldn't get over the weird feeling of being in a traffic jam where we usually walked amongst crowds of people.

  There were traffic signs and arrows directing us where to go as we crept around the zoo grounds.  5 km per hour was the maximum speed and no passing allowed.

  We curved around through the Americas section of the zoo.  We passed a flock of flamingos enjoying the sun.

  We drove around in behind the Australasia Pavilion.  A fake coyote was stationed near where the kangaroo indoor home is located.  This possibly helps keep away other curious creatures.

  Our safari wound its way into Eurasia where we saw this red panda relaxing in the shade.

  It wasn't much longer until we reached the end of our tour and exited near the zoo's administrative offices.  The whole tour took about one hour and gave us a new view of the zoo.  The only view these days.  Thank you Toronto Zoo and thank you to all the frontline workers.  Here's hoping we will be able to walk through the zoo next time.

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Map of Our World
Toronto Zoo

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Post # 287