The mousedeer is a common mammal native to Singapore, but due to its tiny size and relative shyness, might be observed less frequently by naturegoers.

One Triston Yeo however, was lucky enough to spot it amongst the foliage at Thomson Nature Park.

Taking a drag

Yeo shared with Mothership that although this was not his first mousedeer sighting, his previous encounter was nearly three decades ago during a school hike at Bukit Timah Nature Reserve.

On Mar. 31, Yeo visited the park, and at around 9:47am, saw something cross the footpath.

Upon cautiously moving forward, he noticed the mousedeer foraging.

As he had a telephoto lens, Yeo said he did not need to worry about moving too close and spooking the animal, and it eventually moved closer to him while foraging, allowing him to snap a photo of it munching on its food.

A conveniently placed mushroom in the creature's mouth though, lent the photo a rather comical feel.

Yeo joked in a Facebook post that what seems to be the mushroom stalk made the mousedeer appear as if it was smoking a cigarette.

One user in the comments section made that hypothetical scenario a reality with this photoshopped image of the mousedeer taking a puff.

The lesser mousedeer is the world's smallest hoofed animal.

Here's another shot by Yeo of the tiny creature inspecting more mushrooms.

Although Yeo has been visiting the park in the hopes of catching sight of the elusive Raffles banded langurs, he is content with coming across the cute mousedeer and other animals.

"So far no luck but I am happy to capture the mousedeer and some fun macaques shots. I love Thomson Nature Park because it is really very serene and not much hikers."

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Top photo from Triston Yeo / FB