Customers and employees at a supermarket in Toronto’s west end recently encountered an unexpected four-legged visitor.
Last Thursday evening, a racoon was spotted wandering throughout the Loblaws store at 650 Dupont St. at Christie Street.
Around 8 p.m., Alex Chow was picking up some items from the back of his local grocery store when he heard a bit of a commotion and went to check out what was happening. That’s when he saw the critter and like many other shoppers grabbed his phone and started filming. Chow then posted a 32-second clip to Twitter.
“It was quite the novelty,” he told CP24.com on Monday morning.
“It’s not every day that you see a racoon strolling in a supermarket.”
Chow said he kept a safe distance from the animal just in case it was sick or injured.
In the clip he took, the racoon is seen walking in and around cashier stalls at the front of the store. Some customers pass by seemingly unaffected, while other equally amused shoppers stop to film the somewhat unusual occurrence.
“It doesn’t get any more Toronto that this, a racoon inside a supermarket here,” Chow said at the end of the video.
4/20/2023
Doesn’t get any more #Toronto than spotting our unofficial mascot, the #raccoon, casually strolling along inside the local @LoblawsON #supermarket! #Loblaws #Wildlife #The6ix #ViewsFromThe6ix #Raccoons #Shopping #TorontoLife #TorontoLiving pic.twitter.com/FsF053gKMS
— Alex Chow (He/Him) (@amchow78) April 21, 2023
Loblaws, in an email to CP24.com, confirmed that a raccoon did indeed stop by its Dupont location, adding “after a short time, (it) was “safely ushered out with the help of staff and customers.”
According to the City of Toronto, raccoons have adapted well to city life and tend to be active at night. They usually eat grubs, insects, small rodents, eggs, fleshy fruits like grapes, and nuts and vegetables like corn.
Residents are urged to not approach racoons and touch them, even if they appear tame, sick, or injured.
It should also be noted that as of April 1 it is illegal to feed or leave food out for wildlife in Toronto.
The city is also reminding residents to not leave any pet food left outside as it can attract racoons and is urging people to properly dispose of waste on their property in waste bins as racoons will eat garbage left on the ground and compost.
Lastly, residents are advised to always make sure that they take their green bin and garbage containers to the curb on the morning of pick-up and not the night before to avoid any issues with racoons.
