So a few nights ago I got awaken by a noise of something falling, and when I opened my eyes I saw some kind of thing running away through the window, from which it must had had entered.
It was dark although my room isn’t that dark, so I could mostly see a vague shape, and I was a bit half-asleep as well, so I couldn’t swear I saw it right.
In the dark it looked black. Of course it was dark so I can’t swear, but it looked blacker than the rest, so there’s a chance that it was actually black or close to black.
My first guess was that it was a rat, but I didn’t see a rat’s shape, it looked more like a roughly spheric flurry thing, and size-wise, although it can always be a young rat, it looked a bit small for a rat, far from Shibuya’s monsters. On the other hand, too big for a mouse.
Size-wise, I would say a good 10 cm long for maybe 6 or 10 cm height, although if it was actually flurry as I think I saw, the actual body can be lower than that.
It must have small legs as I didn’t particularly see them, and I also didn’t particularly see a noticeable tail, so I guess it had a short one.
And speed-wise, it was neither slow nor overly fast, probably about like a mouse or kitten. I don’t really know. Well maybe that’s already a bit fast, but although it rushed and disappeared quickly, I didn’t have the feeling that it “disappeared in a blink”.
Finally, I live in Tokyo on the first first floor in a very clean neighborhood, so more like a clean urban area, but I already happened to meet a couple of times that animal I don’t remember the name of, looking like a small dog but with a strange face, kind of hyena stuff, which I believe is not a urban animal.
/ EDIT: I found this one back in my wikipedia history, so this kind-of-dog-like one was an “Asian palm civet”. Now about the other day’s thing, still not solved. /
So, of course everything should be taken with a grain of salt considering the circumstances in which I saw this, and maybe it was just some kind of weirdo rat indeed, but otherwise any idea what it can have been?
Thank you very much!
14 comments
Yokai.
イタチ maybe? I see them in my neighbourhood sometimes
> it was actually black or close to black… roughly spheric flurry thing
Susuwatari?
The roundish shape first made me think of a tanuki/racoon but given the size, weasel/itachi seems like a better option.
As for the dog like animal with a strange face you mention, that’s definitely a tanuki.
Another one that is more cat-like is the hakubishin / palm civet.
I can’t speak for all of tokyo but in Setagaya, there’s a lot of all three of them and the ward is trying to keep the populations in check as they can make a lot of damage if they enter houses/apartment. That said, I have met quite a few, sometimes from very close, quite regularly.
> looking like a small dog but with a strange face, kind of hyena stuff, which I believe is not a urban animal.
[One of these](https://i.imgur.com/n3Q2TkJ.jpg) I’d assume. I see masked palm civets regularly enough in the Shinagawa/Meguro/Ota wards. Someone used to leave doughnuts to one in a local park, but I haven’t seen that one for a few years.
I saw a ハクビシン last week in Meguro and it freaked me out probably one of those ? At first I thought it was a small dog like a dachshund- short legs like you said. But it jumped cleared some trash cans like it was flying practically
Sounds like a palm civet, they’re like round cats.
Capa
Pokemon?
Absolutely Tsuchinoko.
There are ハクビシン out and about in Tokyo, but they’re the size of long thin cats, so I’m gonna guess a hamster
It was either a Tanooki or palm civet , they are everywhere in Tokyo.
Japanese dwarf flying squirrel ?
Oh Musang!