Florida man opens front door; kinkajou runs in, bites him

Credit: Chattanooga Times Free Press via AP

Credit: Chattanooga Times Free Press via AP

A small rainforest raccoon-like creature ran into a Florida apartment and bit a man after he opened the front door to head to work, wildlife officials said.

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South Florida news outlet WPEC reported the kinkajou bit the man's foot and scratched his leg inside the Lake Worth Beach apartment, but did not seriously injure him.

Witness Natalie Dulach said it sounded "like a 300-pound man was tackling him in the kitchen" on July 25 at 5:45 a.m.

Dulach said the furry mammal with sharp claws clung to the man's leg as he fought to get it out of the kitchen. The man managed to lock the long-tailed animal in the bathroom until wildlife officers arrived.

"When he opened the door, it like charged at him, at his leg and like clung to his leg and then he was trying to get it off of his leg," Dulach told the Sun-Sentinel. "And it kept coming back in."

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission report said the kinkajou was taken to a wildlife facility. Officers did not say where it came from.

According to National Geographic, kinkajous are native to the tropical forests of Central and South America.

Although many of the kinkajous’ features and traits resemble those of a primate, the kinkajou is related to the raccoon, according to National Geographic.

The night before the attack, the man who was bitten said he saw the kinkajou sitting on a fence outside his apartment and left it some watermelon to eat, the Sun-Sentinel reported. The animal was waiting the next morning when the man opened his door.

“We’ll probably never forget this," Dulach told the newspaper. "Everybody is like, 'Only in Florida.'”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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