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."
A 99-year-old Florida woman woke up to find this kinkajou sleeping on her chest: https://t.co/fjVzHJZ3Ls pic.twitter.com/yN2bZyDw3d
— ABC7 News (@abc7newsBayArea) January 28, 2016
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.
A Florida woman recently awoke to find this exotic kinkajou curled up on her chest >> https://t.co/BtNWh3RFvO pic.twitter.com/kERd1Wjd0E
— Discovery (@Discovery) January 28, 2016
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.
Kinkajou who terrified elderly woman goes home https://t.co/Er77fsDZ1m
— NBC Chicago (@nbcchicago) January 27, 2016
Photo by Yannick TURBE /CC BY-NC-ND 2.0Source: Slate
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