It's not every day that you awaken to an unusual and bizarre-looking creature, curled up asleep on your chest, so this Miami-Dade pensioner was indeed shocked and terrified.
Reportedly the animal looked like a cross between a monkey and a ferret.
Despite
the fact that it was 2 a.m., the worried lady immediately phoned her
son-in-law, Carlos Aguaras, who rushed over to help.
Aguaras told
the media: "I was awoken by a phone call at 2 a.m., which is never good
news, and it was from my terrified mother-in-law."
He said he immediately went over to his mother-in-law’s house, but the
creature had already found its way up to the attic. Aguaras and his
mother-in-law managed to use some food to lure the animal into a cage
and they took it to the local veterinary surgery.
The vet then identified the strange looking creature as a kinkajou, which is an animal usually found in Central and South American rainforests and is reportedly related to the raccoon
family. The animal, which is rarely seen in the U.S., is also known as a
wild dog, night monkey or a honey bear and is also normally rarely seen
by humans in its natural environment, due to its nocturnal nature.
Dr.
Harris, the veterinary surgeon who examined the kinkajou at the South
Dade Animal Hospital, believed this particular animal was actually a
pet, saying: "No undomesticated wild animal like this would curl up on a
woman's chest to go to sleep."
Apparently
it is possible to get a permit in the U.S. to keep the strange little
creatures as pets. While they are reportedly playful and docile, they
do, however, have rather sharp teeth and claws, making them probably not
the best pet for a child.
The vet did eventually manage to track down the errant kinkajou’s south Florida
owner and reunited the happy pair later on Wednesday. Reportedly the
kinkajou’s name is Banana and he is indeed happy to be home, as is his
owner, pictured below.
Photo by
Yannick TURBE /
CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Source:
Slate
