Bystanders stopped busy DVP traffic in Toronto to help out a confused raccoon

Visitors may be quite stunned by the boldness of Toronto’s raccoons, but a close encounter with one of our furry residents is far less of a novelty for seasoned locals, who could very well spot a trash panda nonchalantly wandering among us on any given afternoon (an unfortunate sign that they may be sick).

Being so used to sharing the urban landscape with our four-legged compatriots, Torontonians are often quick to jump into action when one of the animals may be in danger — like in one recent (and harrowing) raccoon run-in that was filmed on the Don Valley Parkway. 

Earlier this week, some Good Samaritans stopped to help one of the masked mammals who had been wandering the freeway, very much on its way to being roadkill.

As noble as the rescuers’ intentions were, though, footage of the incident is serving as a a pretty good example of what not when trying to help a Toronto raccoon, experts say.

In footage shot by a stopped driver, one person can be seen standing in the middle of the highway, stomping their foot near the raccoon to try to get it to scurry off to safety. After that strategy proved futile, he and two other drivers use towels and sweaters they had on hand to usher the animal off the road.

The filming eventually ends with the raccoon being successfully coaxed to the shoulder, though it pauses by the rear tire of a parked car, making it unclear what happened to it in the end.

As a few noted in the comments section of the clip, which was shared across social media on Sunday and Monday, the creature’s behaviour could indicate that it was unwell.

“Any nocturnal animal acting out of regular behaviour like this almost definitely has disease. Please be veryyy careful to keep yourself and any pets far away if you see these kinds of situations in your life,” one person commented on Instagram.

“Li’l dude has distemper I think,” added another.

A clip of the latest Toronto raccoon incident was shared to Instagram, Facebook and more, where people discussed.

Regarding the actions of the humans involved, one person chimed in to say “these are the things I love about Canadians. Well done,” while a number of others applauded their work, calling it “heart-warming to see people keeping animals safe.”

But, there were just as many who noted that “people stopping on the highway is soooo dangerous” and wrote things like “as much as I like wildlife, doing this can cause accidents that lead to death.”

Understandably, experts are not inclined to advocate that anyone take such dangerous steps to help wildlife, especially on the city’s roads.

Toronto Wildlife Centre (TWC) Executive Director Nathalie Karvonen tells blogTO that although it is “touching” the lengths that residents like those in this case are willing to go to help a distressed animal, “I wouldn’t suggest people put themselves at risk on a busy roadway by trying to deal with the situation themselves.”

“We’d always suggest that people call our hotline during the hours we are open, but we are a small charity with limited capacity, so people usually have to wait a bit for a return call. How quickly we call them back likely depends on the time of year,” Karvonen said, calling this scenario a complicated one.

“If it’s in Toronto, I’d suggest people also call 311, who I assume would engage the Ontario Provincial Police if the animal was on a 400-series highway.” 

She also agrees with those social media commenters who speculated that the raccoon in the video has distemper, which has no cure and is usually fatal, even if an affected animal is brought into care.

As TWC says on its website, “skunks and raccoons are usually not found with distemper until the very late stages. By that point, the neurological damage is permanent and humane euthanasia is the kindest option.”