A water-skiing squirrel has led to a flood of praise for the “land of opportunity” as shopping centre visitors were stunned.

The squirrel was seen making its way around a pool on a pair of skis, dragged along by a small remote controlled boat.

One person took to X/Twitter with footage of the animal, writing: “I’m at the mall and there is a squirrel waterskiing. America truly is the land of opportunity.”

The video has been viewed more than 2.3million times and has racked up more than 83,000 likes.

Towards the end of the clip a commentator can be heard identifying the squirrel and – if it wasn’t already obvious – it becomes apparent that this rodent is rather special.

“Twiggy was in Anchorman, Dodgeball, Down to Earth, she’s been in over 11 movies,” a commentator was heard saying. And X users were left impressed by the moviestar. 

One wrote: “I tried to think of something funny to say, but this is just the coolest thing I’ve ever seen.” Another claimed it was “the best thing I’ve seen today”, while a third perplexed social media user recalled seeing a water skiing squirrel themselves.

“I saw this 20+ years at the NYC boat show in the Javits center,” they wrote. “They got a new squirrel. The 90s were peak American empire.” Several squirrels have been Twiggy down the years.

Despite a series of farewell performances from Twiggy in 2018, it seems the animal has now returned to the water.

The squirrel is not without its controversies though, and has been banned from performing in Toronto over animal welfare concerns.

Twiggy is best known for appearing in Anchorman as a news item in a broadcast presented by Will Ferrell’s character Ron Burgundy. Looking on in amazement at a clip of Twiggy, Burgundy says: “How about that. That squirrel can water-ski.”