Rare albino raccoon captured on camera in Toronto backyard

Have you ever wondered what would happen if you combined two of Toronto's most iconic animal species — the raccoon and the white squirrel — into one hybrid creature?

It would be an abomination, you sick f*ck. Squirrels and raccoons cannot produce viable offspring.

If they could, however, it would be nice to imagine that their unholy babies might look something like the rare albino raccoon: a pure white animal, endowed with both the sturdy body of a trash-eating night boi and the mutated genes believed to be carried by the famous white squirrel family of Trinity Bellwoods Park.

Someone in Leaside spotted a rare albino raccoon in their backyard - 📹 Joshua https://t.co/hAQFlt3GCP #Toronto #Raccoon pic.twitter.com/v4xDkBxdGM

— blogTO (@blogTO) May 20, 2020

Albino raccoons do exist, and they're adorable (albeit less likely to survive in the wild due to various health problems and reduced abilities.)

They're also quite rare, according to experts, with just one albino raccoon born for every 10,000 standard bandits. Wildlife experts, in fact, say that the chance of catching one on camera in the wild is closer to 1 in 750,000 — roughly the same probability of being struck by lightning the U.S.

Instagram user @therealjoshuapatrick is thus one very lucky man, as evidenced by the video he posted of one such raccoon in his backyard on Tuesday night.

The Toronto homeowner posted footage of a rare albino raccoon walking through his Leaside backyard early Wednesday morning, later telling CP24 that he believes the animal may be living under his gazebo.

Toronto, meet your new mascot #albino #raccoon https://t.co/4YzaU44m4D

— Showwei Chu (@ShowweiChu) June 1, 2017

The animal pictured in the Leaside resident's Stories post is indeed pure white and very much resembles a raccoon, though some on Twitter are arguing that the animal pictured is an opposum.

Rare as white raccoons may be, however, this is not the first time someone has spotted one in the GTA. A baby albino raccoon was actually captured on camera chilling with its regularly-coloured raccoon mother in the Beaches neighbourhood three years ago.

Could it be the same mystical critter living under @therealjoshuapatrick's gazebo? It's hard to say. All we know for certain at this point is that the animal definitely isn't a puppy. Try to pet it, you'll probably regret it.