Sometimes called Japanese raccoon dogs, tanuki hold a special place in Japan. They are often depicted in folklore as magical shapeshifters and as traditional statues, but it's sometimes considered good luck to come across one as spotting one in the wild can be a bit of a rarity.

In tanuki lore, their shapeshifting is said to be triggered by placing a leaf on their heads. Well, the Kita Kitsune Ranch zoo in Hokkaido decided to put that rumor to the test. The zoo, which is the only one in Japan where you can see foxes and tanuki living together, benefits from the earliest fall foliage in the country thanks to being located on Japan's northern most island. So a zookeeper decided to test the transformation theory by placing different types of leaves on the head of one of their tanuki, Ponta.

It didn't quite trigger shapeshifting, but it did result in an adorably stylish look for the tanuki!

Despite placing a series of green, yellow, and red leaves upon Ponta's head, the tanuki doesn't pull off any mischievous shapeshifting. Ponta did, however, become a bit of an internet celebrity as the post has charmed many tanuki fans on Twitter---although some are speculating that Ponta may actually simply be refraining from transforming because he'd rather not perform it as a cheap trick...