Latest news with #ConradTheRaccoon
National Post
19 hours ago
- General
- National Post
Dead Toronto raccoon whose sidewalk memorial went viral in 2015 immortalized with heritage plaque
TORONTO — Ten years ago, a dead raccoon on a downtown Toronto street sparked an impromptu sidewalk shrine as passersby laid flowers, candles and cigarettes around the critter. Article content Now, Conrad the raccoon has been immortalized in the city's history with a heritage plaque at the spot where it all happened. Article content Article content Conrad went viral in 2015 after his remains laid on the sidewalk at the corner of Yonge and Church streets for nearly 14 hours following a social media post reporting the dead animal to the city. Article content Meg Sutton, plaques co-ordinator with Heritage Toronto, says the 10th anniversary of Conrad's death is the perfect occasion to revive the raccoon's story, which she says united Canadians across the country. Article content The plaque includes photos of the posts that launched the DeadRaccoonTO hashtag, imprints of raccoon paws and a QR code that leads to a website where people can post their own raccoon stories. Article content As the first-ever animal plaque in the city, Sutton says it also serves to highlight the natural history of raccoons in urban spaces. Article content #NeverForget #DeadRaccoonTO — mound (@PITmounD) June 17, 2016 Article content In the early 1900s, industrialization and deforestation caused such a threat to the raccoon population that people worried the creatures would go extinct, she said. Article content Article content 'Now, raccoons have become so adaptable and resilient that they've made their homes in attics and sheds, they've found new diet sources and human-discarded food, and they've just become these cheeky personalities that run amok,' Sutton said Tuesday in an interview. Article content
CBC
a day ago
- General
- CBC
Toronto remembers raccoon whose sidewalk death went viral in 2015
Ten years ago, a dead raccoon on a downtown Toronto street sparked an impromptu sidewalk shrine as passersby laid flowers, candles and cigarettes around the critter. Now, Conrad the raccoon has been immortalized in the city's history with a heritage plaque at the spot where it all happened. Conrad went viral in 2015 after his remains laid on the sidewalk at the corner of Yonge and Church streets for nearly 14 hours following a social media post reporting the dead animal to the city. Meg Sutton, plaques co-ordinator with Heritage Toronto, says the 10th anniversary of Conrad's death is the perfect occasion to revive the raccoon's story, which she says united Canadians across the country. The plaque includes photos of the posts that launched the DeadRaccoonTO hashtag, imprints of raccoon paws and a QR code that leads to a website where people can post their own raccoon stories. As the first-ever animal plaque in the city, Sutton says it also serves to highlight the natural history of raccoons in urban spaces. In the early 1900s, industrialization and deforestation caused such a threat to the raccoon population that people worried the creatures would go extinct, she said. "Now, raccoons have become so adaptable and resilient that they've made their homes in attics and sheds, they've found new diet sources and human-discarded food, and they've just become these cheeky personalities that run amok," Sutton said Tuesday in an interview. So far, more than 400 people have scanned the QR code on Conrad's plaque and the web page has been visited more than 1,000 times. After a month, a permanent version of the plaque will be installed to replace the QR code with life-size raccoon prints since the QR code requires maintenance and upkeep, Sutton said. Promoting community engagement was the main goal of the plaque, she said, since "everyone has a raccoon story in Toronto."
CTV News
2 days ago
- General
- CTV News
Dead raccoon that sparked a social media frenzy after being left on Toronto sidewalk gets commemorative plaque
A commemorative plaque for Conrad the Raccoon is erected at Yonge and Church in Toronto. (Courtesy of Heritage Toronto) Heritage Toronto is commemorating a famous Toronto raccoon whose passing made international headlines exactly a decade ago. A plaque has been erected at Church and Yonge streets to remember Conrad the Raccoon, the critter who went viral in 2015 after its remains laid on the sidewalk for 14 hours, prompting pedestrians to create a shrine around him. The hashtag #DeadRaccoonTO soon followed as photos of the memorial went viral on social media. Conrad's plaque includes photos of tweets that helped the shrine blow up online, imprints of raccoon paws, educational text on the history of the creature in the city, as well as a QR code, which takes users to a site where they can leave their condolences. The unique appearance of the plaque has made some wonder if it's official. Meg Sutton, plaques co-ordinator with Heritage Toronto, confirms the plaque is the real deal. The current acrylic version will be up for a month with the QR code to promote engagement, the first from Heritage Toronto to do so. It will eventually be replaced with a near-identical porcelain and enamel version with a bronze backing, but without the QR code, which requires upkeep. 'We wanted to play into that interactivity and engagement with people around Toronto, because everyone has their own raccoon story,' she told CTV News. 'And this whole viral moment started with a tweet.' So far more than 200 people have scanned the QR code and 435 have visited the plaque's page on their website. Most Heritage Toronto plaques are nominated by the public. Anyone can fill out a form on their website to nominate a heritage site, a deceased person or an event to commemorate, with 30 to 40 new ones added around the city every year. However, Heritage Toronto chooses one to include annually, and this year Sutton and her colleagues felt that the 10 year anniversary of Conrad's death would be a perfect moment in Toronto history to highlight, as well as help inform the public on the city's unofficial mascot. 'It's ranged through the years of what our curated signs have been,' she said. 'This plaque is particularly special because it does commemorate a viral moment…but half the plaque educates about raccoons in the city.' Sutton is happy to see how much engagement people have had with the plaque so far. 'Toronto does have such a cute relationship with these little mammals,' she said. 'It's great to see people get so excited about it and excited about a plaque. Sometimes we need a little more fun in the world.' Toronto is home to one of the most robust heritage plaque programs in the world, with over 900 Heritage Toronto plaques that range in size, found around the city.
CTV News
2 days ago
- General
- CTV News
Heritage Toronto honours the city's unofficial critter, with commemorative plaque for Conrad the Raccoon
A commemorative plaque for Conrad the Raccoon is erected at Yonge and Church in Toronto. Heritage Toronto is commemorating a famous Toronto raccoon whose passing made international headlines exactly a decade ago. A plaque has been erected at Church and Yonge streets to remember Conrad the Raccoon, the critter who went viral in 2015 after its remains laid on the sidewalk for 14 hours, prompting pedestrians to create a shrine around him. The hashtag #DeadRaccoonTO soon followed as photos of the memorial went viral on social media. Conrad's plaque includes photos of tweets that helped the shrine blow up online, imprints of raccoon paws, educational text on the history of the creature in the city, as well as a QR code, which takes users to a site where they can leave their condolences. The unique appearance of the plaque has made some wonder if it's official. Meg Sutton, plaques co-ordinator with Heritage Toronto, confirms the plaque is the real deal. The current acrylic version will be up for a month with the QR code to promote engagement, the first from Heritage Toronto to do so. It will eventually be replaced with a near-identical porcelain and enamel version with a bronze backing, but without the QR code, which requires upkeep. 'We wanted to play into that interactivity and engagement with people around Toronto, because everyone has their own raccoon story,' she told CTV News. 'And this whole viral moment started with a tweet.' So far more than 200 people have scanned the QR code and 435 have visited the plaque's page on their website. Most Heritage Toronto plaques are nominated by the public. Anyone can fill out a form on their website to nominate a heritage site, a deceased person or an event to commemorate, with 30 to 40 new ones added around the city every year. However, Heritage Toronto chooses one to include annually, and this year Sutton and her colleagues felt that the 10 year anniversary of Conrad's death would be a perfect moment in Toronto history to highlight, as well as help inform the public on the city's unofficial mascot. 'It's ranged through the years of what our curated signs have been,' she said. 'This plaque is particularly special because it does commemorate a viral moment…but half the plaque educates about raccoons in the city.' Sutton is happy to see how much engagement people have had with the plaque so far. 'Toronto does have such a cute relationship with these little mammals,' she said. 'It's great to see people get so excited about it and excited about a plaque. Sometimes we need a little more fun in the world.' Toronto is home to one of the most robust heritage plaque programs in the world, with over 900 Heritage Toronto plaques that range in size, found around the city.
