Pictou County’s raccoon whisperer finds global success
Earlier this month James Blackwood and author Christine Mackinnon released a special edition of their book The Raccoon Whisperer: The Story of James Blackwood.
Blackwood is best known for his Youtube channel, where he posts videos of him feeding raccoons at his Churchville home. His channel has nearly half a million subscribers, over 50 million views and has amassed fans from all over the world.
This special edition of his biography, which is being printed locally, includes more photos and is autographed by Mackinnon and Blackwood and includes the paw prints of his two cats.
“I think we are going to sell out and whether we do another reprint we still have to discuss that,” says Blackwood.
He says they have been shipping the special edition of the book all over the world, including France, Germany and Russia. Mackinnon says some people are paying fifty dollars just to ship it to where they are.
Thanks to his Youtube channel Blackwood says he gets to talk with people all over the world all the time. He even has gotten to meet a few fans, showing them around Pictou County when they come to visit.
The book is for all ages and tells of Blackwood’s early life to his current Youtube success. It was originally published in May of this year to Amazon where it is still available.
Blackwood says at first he didn’t want to do the book and had to think about it, but says Mackinnon did a beautiful job with it.
This is Mackinnon’s second book. Originally from St. John’s, N.L., she moved to New Glasgow from Sydney, Nova Scotia in the fall of 2020.
A month later she came across Blackwood’s channel and could see the subscribers growing and growing.
She thought he had a very interesting life, in part due to his time as a RCMP officer and then a police officer in Pictou County.
“I just thought his story should be told,” she says. “It’s been extremely successful, more than I could have ever dreamed.”
Blackwood started feeding the raccoons because of his late wife. She was the one who fed them, and when she passed in 2003 she asked him to take up the torch.
People can find Blackwood on Youtube at James Blackwood - Raccoon Whisperer. His website is https:// raccoonwhisperer.ca/.