A raccoon tucked itself into a Philly squid scientist’s hammock. The video went viral.

Sarah McAnulty takes exception to those on social media who are calling her a bad hostess for not leaving milk and cookies out for an unexpected guest who dropped by her Fishtown apartment Thursday night.

“I’m a great hostess, thank you very much,” McAnulty said. “The best hostess doesn’t transmit diseases intentionally.”

McAnulty, a squid biologist, was just going about her business in her third-floor apartment around dusk when she heard a rustling on the porch and discovered a raccoon washing its hands in a cooler she’d left out.

Apparently, it was cleaning up for bed, because shortly thereafter, the raccoon sauntered over to a hammock on her porch and climbed inside.

McAnulty grabbed her phone and a flashlight and filmed a 22-second video (from behind closed doors) of the raccoon appearing to tuck itself into her hammock for the evening.

“He was completely unperturbed by me getting close to him,” she said. “He looked right at me, like I was just another raccoon.”

McAnulty’s video, which was posted Thursday, has since gone viral, racking up more than 777,000 views on Twitter.

“Many people were like, ‘Why did you not give him a blankie?’” McAnulty said. “Because I didn’t want to get bitten by a wild raccoon.”

While the video is adorable, McAnulty stressed she did nothing to persuade the raccoon onto her porch and once there, she did not approach it or feed it.

“I want to make sure that we are not encouraging Philadelphians to invite raccoons to their porches or touch them,” she said. “That sounds like a great way to get rabies.”

Once inside the hammock, McAnulty said the raccoon curled up in a little ball and stayed for the night.

“He seemed to be having such a lovely time,” she said. “He was having a spa weekend on my deck.”

McAnulty isn’t sure if the raccoon set up camp on her porch before, and she hasn’t seen him back since. But this isn’t the first time this year a raccoon — or raccoons — have raised eyebrows in Fishtown.

“There’s a lot of raccoon activity happening in Fishtown,” McAnulty said. “This is for sure.”

In June, artist Lauren Rinaldi posted a picture on Twitter of four raccoons hanging atop her alleyway door, and in July, a video was posted to Instagram by Gents Barber Lounge of a man walking a raccoon around Fishtown on a leash.

“I feel like Philadelphia is getting a reputation for having animals on leashes that shouldn’t be,” McAnulty said of the man with the leashed raccoon and of an August viral video of Wally the emotional support alligator cooling off at the sprayground at LOVE Park.

McAnulty said along with rabies, raccoons can carry roundworms that can be harmful to people.

“So, if you see them on your stuff don’t use it without cleaning it first,” she said. “I will be thoroughly washing the hammock before I let another human sit on it.”

McAnulty, whom the Inquirer profiled in 2020 as part of its We the People series, about the people who make Philly extraordinary, is a squid biologist who wants to make science — and scientists — more accessible to everyone.

She’s the founder of Skype A Scientist, which connects working scientists with educators, classrooms, and groups around the world through video chat, and she’s the owner of the Squidmobile, a Toyota RAV4 covered with paintings of squid and the words “WANT A SQUID FACT? Text 1-833-SCI-TEXT” written on the back.

Over the last few years, McAnulty received about 8,500 text requests for squid facts, but after someone posted a photo of the Squidmobile on Aramingo Avenue that went viral in April, that number has ballooned to more than 44,000. She’s created a line of squid stickers to help support her work.

“The more squid facts people are getting the happier I become and the stronger my aura becomes,” she said.

McAnulty, who often posts about animals, including cephalopods, wildlife, and her cats (she has two, along with a bearded dragon, a yellow ball python, and a chameleon), said she doesn’t think she’s blessed with “good critter vibes” that attract animals to her.

“I think we’re all surrounded by a lot of wildlife all the time, it’s just that I’m always looking for it,” she said. “Even when you’re in an area without a lot of green space, be patient, and something will show itself to you.”

So will hammock raccoon take its place in the long lore of Philly wildlife caught on camera, next to pizza groundhog and taquito squirrel?

That remains to be seen, but McAnulty hopes her video will at least get people to appreciate the wild animals we share Philly with just a little bit more.

“If sitting in a hammock is a way to get that recognition then I support that raccoon’s decisions,” she said. “This raccoon knew how to be a ham: ‘Oh, you’re going to put a bright light in my face. Let me be extra cute right now, for the good of my people.’”