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A heart-melting encounter with a juvenile Common palm civet made its round on Facebook on Friday (Nov. 11).
In his Facebook post, nature enthusiast Brice Li shared photos of a Common palm civet that had found its way into Khong Guan Restaurant, a coffee shop located along Stirling Road in Queenstown.
Speaking to Mothership, Li shared that he was woken up on Friday morning by a call from the coffee shop owner at around 6:32 am.
Over the call, the owner told Li that there was a "raccoon" in the eatery.
Li instinctively knew that it was probably a Common palm civet, as there has been an "adult civet roaming the area".
He then suggested to the owner to either "leave it alone" or call Acres.
The owner eventually phoned Acres for help to rescue the animal, Li revealed.
Juvenile civet eventually rescued by NParks
When Li dropped by the coffee shop at around 10am, he expected that the creature to have been removed by then since Acres had been informed.
However, Li was surprised to see that the civet was still there.
"The little fellow was still in the corner, quietly observing everything", Li recalled with amusement.
Gif via Brice Li/Facebook.
Photo via Brice Li/Facebook.
Photo via Brice Li/Facebook.
Photo via Brice Li/Facebook.
Li left the coffee shop and returned at around 2pm for his afternoon coffee to find the civet gone.
He later found out that NParks had come to retrieve the civet around 12pm.
Apart from knocking over "a few cans of unopened condensed milk", not much was disturbed by the civet in the coffee shop when it was found in the morning, Li recalled being told by the owner.
They cleaned things up before opening for the day.
Photo via Brice Li/Facebook.
Reflecting on the encounter, Li was amused by what he saw, noting the "irony of a civet visiting a traditional Hainanese coffeeshop" in his Facebook post.
In Indonesia, Common palm civets are associated with the coffee preparation method known as "kopi luwak".
The coffee shop owner shared with Mothership that an adult civet, possibly the mother, was spotted at the coffee shop on Friday night.
"If I had known, I would have left the juvenile alone", the owner opined.
Top image courtesy of Brice Li/Facebook