WhatsApp is very common if anyone in your inner circle is international (as in lives in another country, not just from there). My family still uses it for our group chat bc one of my siblings used to travel a lot and live overseas, and we’re all American.
I have other friends from other countries who use WhatsApp to talk to people back home, but they also use standard messaging apps for talking to people here.
I’m American and I always get a chuckle from the adoration that people have over raccoons as well. I guess they’re cute but they’re also a menace, there’s a reason we call them “trash pandas”.
But I also went to Spain several years back and saw my first hedgehog. And it was even in a hedge! I took probably two dozen photos and the locals thought I was crazy. So I get it.