Snarling porch sitter thought to be a binturong

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ^ | Monday, April 22, 2002 | Jeffrey Cohan

[Willie Green]

She has scissor-sharp teeth, bear-like claws, thick black fur, seal-worthy whiskers, a long tail and a mean streak.

Which just leaves one question: What the heck is she?

This snarling stranger showed up yesterday morning on the front doorstep of an Economy couple.

[Jean S]

I wouldn't want to find one of these on my porch.

[pubmom]

When I saw the video of this little lovely last night on KDKA, I wondered why anyone would want to keep it as a pet.

[wingnuts'nbolts]

Not a wolverine? "A rapacious and cunning carnivore of northern forests with stout body and limbs and bushy tail".

[piasa]

"She's just outright mean," Sickelsmith said.

Uh. no. She's not mean. She was just sleeping there, and then she got wind of your intentions, and decided not to put up with being pestered. Then you stuck a noose around her neck. Try doing that to a person and see how mean they'd get.

Bribing animals into cages for removal is much more effective than roping them.

Triangle employees transferred her to a 5-foot- long cage, then taunted her a tad by brushing a work glove against the side of it. She bared her fangs and let out a scratchy snarl.

This guy should try this with his mother in law if he wants to hear a real hiss.

[DETAILER]

Something that ugly, on my porch and growling at me, would get instant 12 gauge relief.

[buffyt]

Make sure it isn't "endangered species" or be prepared to haul it off where no one will ever find it if you do. We have a home in Lake Jackson, Texas, south of Houston. We have nutria and ALLIGATORS running loose in our town/area. There was an 11 1/2 foot long alligator chasing my neighbor and his dog in his backyard a year or so ago. My neighbor grabbed his gun and shot the 'gator, thus saving his life and his dog's life. It wasn't alligator season! He got into a lot of legal trouble for protecting his life from an attacking alligator. So, just be ready to get rid of any carcus after your kill it! The environazis and endangered speciesNazis are everwhere!

[Born to Conserve]

For a varmit, 12ga is appropriate, but for something intersting like this? Give it food and learn about it.

[Registered]

I'd shoot it, then send it off to the taxidermist.

[wingnuts'nbolts]

Just returned from Google and it seem these creatures are nocturnal, quiet dispositioned and make good pets.

[twigs]

I just saw two of these animals at a zoo in Florida. Any wild animal can potentially be dangerous. And you are right. They are nocturnal. The zookeeper had a hard time waking them up to eat. One of the two refused to do so. They also emit an odor that smells exactly like buttered popcorn.

[Procyon]

Binturong are animals of peace!

[maxwell]

What the HECK is a binturong? I never heard of that before...

[eddie willers]

I'd shoot it, then send it off to the taxidermist.

Then there was the veterinarian who was also a taxidermist.
His sign read:

"Either way you get your dog back"

[afraidfortherepublic]

OK, animal experts. Identify this animal for me: It's as big as a small cat and looks like a groundhog, except that it has a skinny tail like a snake. I saw one the other day in the grass by a mailbox in a nearby neighborhood when I was distributing campaign literature. I thought it might be a rat, but it was VERY big and had a blunt nose, not a pointy nose. I once saw something like it swimming in the river in a neighboring town. I live in Wisconsin.

What is it?

[Willie Green]

It's apparently a Malaysian bearcat of some sort.

[afraidfortherepublic]

They also emit an odor that smells exactly like buttered popcorn.

You got that close???

[twigs]

It's a very strong odor. We were right at the cage, but we continued to smell it as we continued to walk through the zoo. We were amazed!

[Born to Conserve]

"I wouldn't want to find one of these on my porch."

How about this?:

[dagny taggert]

So you are admitting to being a species-ist? :-)