Today is International Raccoon Appreciation Day, and yes, that’s a real thing. It was started back in 2002 for the express purpose of celebrating racoons and all those other poor, maligned animals us pushy humans generally regard as pests, and to highlight the important and often overlooked role they play in our respective ecosystems.
Whether it’s racoons in North America, foxes in the UK or even elephants in the farming communities of Africa, every ‘nuisance animal’ has its place in the natural world, and today is all about spreading the word that sometimes we won’t always get on with our nearest animal neighbours, but we should always have our minds open about their inherent value and respect them for it.
Here’s what the internet has been saying about #IRAD:
Happy #October! And happy #RaccoonAppreciationDay! pic.twitter.com/Vjxk6AJ402
— Frontier (@FrontierGap) October 1, 2015
A raccoon for #pinchpunchpost and International Raccoon Appreciation Day @NWF! Happy October! pic.twitter.com/o6JybMkAbF — Thea Baker (@TheaIllustrator) October 1, 2015
#RaccoonAppreciationDay: Seriously, it’s a thing? Learn how smart they are: Watch: http://t.co/Xv5nXYqxj7 #CBCTNoT pic.twitter.com/Tgf3euhSXr
— cbcdocs (@cbcdocs) October 1, 2015
Today, October 1st, is Raccoon Appreciation Day. Silly Terrans, *every* day should be Raccoon Appreciation Day! pic.twitter.com/kk5NM0loX5 — Rocket Raccoon (LW) (@Raccoonatic) October 1, 2015
it’s international raccoon appreciation day! (1st Oct) heres a CHEEKY TOOF! One of Oreo’s friends :3 @oreoandfriends pic.twitter.com/agZbs9GK8C
— Rocky Raccoon (@RockycoonUK) October 1, 2015
It’s International Raccoon Appreciation Day. They just want a hug… and your garbage. https://t.co/Q4VHrQPQQM pic.twitter.com/EXXynWyQ0u — 2 Gryphon (@2_gryphon) October 1, 2015
It seems not everyone considers the humble racoon a pest, especially not the good citizens of Toronto, who earlier this year erected a candlelight memorial service in honour of a recently deceased procyonid after the city’s Animal Services forgot to pick it up.