Fur is so important for many animals, providing much-needed protection from the cold. It also gives them their distinct looks — there are some animals that, when completely bald, you might not recognize at all.

Recently, rescuers took in a creature that looks like a hairless cat but is something much rarer. Read on to learn more about this unique creature and her unlikely survival…

Last month, Hope for Wildlife, a nonprofit conservation organization in Nova Scotia, took in the most unusual animal. According to the Canadian Press, a couple in West Arichat discovered the animal in their backyard, shivering in the cold.

At first glance, the creature looks like a Sphynx cat, but it isn’t — it’s actually a completely hairless raccoon!

It’s certainly hard to recognize a raccoon without its signature mask-like fur pattern. This little creature, a northern raccoon, is completely bald due to severe alopecia.

The rescue says they have had previous cases of balding raccoons, but never anything like this: “It’s just tufts of fur around the snout, ankles and feet. This is a severe case,” Hope Swinimer, director of Hope for Wildlife, told The Canadian Press.

Though the raccoon is a female, she’s been named Rufus after the naked mole rat character from the cartoon Kim Possible.