By Tim Binnall
Wildlife officials in Oklahoma are on the hunt for a mysterious creature that they believe to be an out-of-place coatimundi that somehow found its way into the state. The weird case reportedly began back in May when authorities in the city of Durant began hearing from residents who had spotted a strange animal that they could not quite identify. "I thought a possum head was on a raccoon body," marveled witness Janet Golden, who went on to note that the critter sported a "big, long white face with little bitty black eyes." Based on her description and the accounts of at least four other individuals who encountered the creature, the city's department of Animal Control concluded that there is a coatimundi roaming the community.
The presence of the creature in Durant is particularly perplexing as it is native to Mexico as well as Central and South America. “We believe somebody brought it here as part of the exotic animal trade, then either released it, got tired of it, lost it, [or] it broke out," the city's Public Safety Director Brian Heverly explained. Beyond the question of how the raccoon-like creature wound up in Durant in the first place, there is something of a secondary mystery unfolding in the community as, although authorities have referred to the odd interloper in the singular, they have indicated that actual number of suspected coatimundis in Durant could be as many as three and Golden contends that she spotted a "family" of the animals.
Faced with a veritable invasion of the animals, wildlife officials in the city have set about trying to capture them by way of traps placed in strategic locations throughout the community. Meanwhile, they are warning residents to be on guard, especially if they happen to own any small pets. "We have had reports of some dead cats in the area," revealed animal control officer Darren Beckham, who indicated that some suspect that the felines had fallen victim to the coatimundis. Should authorities to take the creatures into custody, there will be yet another mystery that needs solving as Beckham mused "I'm not quite sure where they are going to relocate them to, but I assume down to Mexico or South America."