Tightrope-walking raccoon travels through Toronto neighbourhood

The world has a new balancing act, Nik Wallenda, but to book him for a performance we might have to search a few local green bins.

A YouTube user has uploaded a video of a raccoon tightrope walking on utility wires, suspended above houses as it shimmies across a gap between two poles.

The raccoon, called "very clever" by the video's narrator, stays stable by placing its front paws on the upper wire and standing on its back paws.

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The video has been seen nearly 81,000 times since it was uploaded on April 5.

There must have been a tempting barbecue on the other side of that set of wires.

The user who uploaded the video posted that it was filmed in Toronto. Fitting, that this four-legged performer would make an appearance in a city where raccoons are often considered a plague upon lawns, not to mention the organic waste disposal system that leads them head first into everyone's kitchen scraps.

Toronto Star columnist Bob Hepburn recently called for a cull of raccoons, calling them pests on whom we should declare war.

The column was in response to a man who did declare war on several raccoons who were digging in his garden, pleading guilty to hitting them with a shovel, according to the Toronto Star.

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The story even reached outside the country when it began, with National Public Radio reminding Toronto that it's considered the raccoon capital of the world. Shall the city switch its nickname, Hogtown, to raccoon-town?

This raccoon, at least, is making a case for its value as a mascot. Perhaps a touring stint with the tightrope walking dog would improve the species' public image.