A raccoon was filmed wandering the checkout aisles at a Toronto Loblaws supermarket

The saga of Toronto’s unofficial mascot continues, with a recent raccoon sighting at a Loblaws grocery store in the city’s west end.

Elianna Lev
·2 min read
A raccoon was filmed wandering the checkout aisles at a Toronto Loblaws supermarket

The saga of Toronto’s unofficial mascot continues, with a recent raccoon sighting at a Loblaws grocery store in the city’s west end.

In a video posted by Twitter user Alex Chow, the curious creature was filmed wandering near the cash registers of a Loblaws supermarket at Dupont and Christie Sts., in the city's Davenport neighbourhood. Other surprised shoppers in the store also took out their phones to film the bizarre scene.

“It doesn't get any more Toronto than this,” he wrote. “A raccoon inside a supermarket here.”

Loblaws confirmed that the animal was safely escorted out of the store with the help of staff and customers.

Raccoons are a common sight around the city, especially around trash receptacles.

In 2021, Ben Worthington, manager of animal services at Guelph Humane Society told Yahoo News Canada that the animals are opportunistic scavengers, meaning they’ll consume just about anything they come across.

“They’ll try to find the easiest thing, as opposed to trying to hunt for their meal,” he says. “They’ll literally eat anything.”

He also described them as “the smartest wildlife species we have.”

They’ll literally eat anything.

Despite their prominence around the city, Toronto’s animal services are warning residents not to get close to the animal.

There’s been an uptick in the amount of service requests for sick and injured wildlife recently, which is partially related to a distemper outbreak within the city’s raccoon population.

This kind of outbreak isn't uncommon and tends to happen every two to three years. The fatal virus makes the animal lethargic or disoriented, sometimes curling up to sleep in open areas that are close proximity to people. If cornered, they could become aggressive. While distemper is not transmissible to humans, unvaccinated dogs are vulnerable if they’re exposed to an infected animal.

Signs to look out for in an infected raccoon include a noticeable mucus discharge around the eyes and nose, along with coughing, seizures, tremors, or chewing fits.

There's yet another reason not to engage with raccoons in Toronto: On April 1, the City of Toronto made it illegal to feed city wildlife.