Masses from across the GTA hit the streets of Toronto to watch the city's annual Santa Claus Parade this weekend, and it seems that humans weren't the only locals in attendance.

One person heading to take part in the festivities spotted none other than one of the city's unofficial mascots, a raccoon, also walking toward the Sunday afternoon event as floats made their way down University Avenue.

"Truly *everyone* came downtown for the Santa Claus Parade today," the individual wrote on X (formerly Twitter), along with a clip of the trash panda waddling westward down a bike lane on Adelaide Street, the parade going on in full force just a few metres ahead.

We demand more protected raccoon lanes! https://t.co/v2Sl0ppfUx

— Nicola Pitchford (@NJPitchford) November 27, 2023

And while quite a few found it hilarious that the animal chose to use a bike lane and joked that the sight was "peak Toronto," others expressed concern that the nocturnal critter may not have been well.

Some suspected the little guy may have been infected with distemper, which is unfortunately not uncommon among the metropolis's raccoon population.

Telltale signs of the canine virus include appearing "drunk" and disoriented, wandering aimlessly (especially during daylight hours), seeming overly sleepy, and more typical symptoms of illness such as vomiting, diarrhea, seizures and discharge from the eyes and nose.

Since this raccoon was seen in a busy, noisy area during the day, people are right to be a little worried for its well-being.

Agreed.

— The Biking Lawyer (Dave Shellnutt) (@TheBikingLawyer) November 27, 2023

But, according to the Toronto Wildlife Centre, raccoons out during daytime hours are not always sick.

"A raccoon that is alert, responsive and behaving normally during the day is probably fine," the organization states on its website, noting that raccoons may come out in daytime "if there is a food source available at a particular time, if they have been frightened out of their daytime sleeping spot, or if there is high competition in the area at night."

"Baby raccoons are also commonly seen outside during the day, and mother raccoons might be out looking for food during the day, it continues.

In this case, due to the unusual chaos of the parade, this raccoon may have simply been frightened awake, or confused by the noise echoing between the buildings.

But, if it was having difficulty walking or balancing, seemed overly lethargic or had clear signs of injury — things that are hard to tell from the brief recording — this would be cause for concern, and a reason to call an authority like TWC.

This is what to do if you see a raccoon sick with distemper in Toronto https://t.co/7Vlfoy3nPr #Toronto #Raccoon pic.twitter.com/X3lzKLyT4m

— blogTO (@blogTO) October 3, 2020

Unfortunately, there is no cure for distemper (or for the far rarer rabies, once symptoms start showing), and any raccoons found with it are usually humanely euthanized. Survival is possible, but not typically without permanent neurological damage.

As for rabies, TWC states that Ontario went nearly a decade without any rabies cases in raccoons before an outbreak in the Hamilton area in 2015.

"There have been no positive cases in the city of Toronto to date," they say, also pointing out that the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry has effective tactics for keeping the disease under control.

While it's unlikely that the raccoon was, in this case, just getting into the holiday spirit with the rest of us, we can hope that it was confounded by the racket or simply looking for food instead of sick with anything.