Here be raccoons! (-like creatures)

Last night, while out in the park getting some exercise, I saw the strangest of things.

Out of the bushes just in front of me came something the size of a medium dog, or a very large cat. It was furry and round as anything and was making a line straight for a cat that is saw on the other side of a small bridge bridge.

My first reactions was “Man, that is one fat and furry cat!” but then I noticed it’s legs. They were covered in short fur and were very thin compared to the rest of the furball. Furry cats have furry legs as well and fat cats look fat all over. They don’t have skinny little legs.

Looking a bit closer to decided that I was looking at a raccoon. I had a good 30 seconds to look at it and I was fairly sure. A raccoon! This was my first time ever to see a raccoon! Only problem was that I had never heard of raccoons in Korea.

And I was right. There aren't raccoons in Korea. There are, however, Raccoon Dogs. These animals are part of the dog family of and is, interestingly, one of the earliest species to evolve from the common ancestor of all dogs.

It is called the Raccoon Dog because, you guessed it, it looks like a raccoon. No surprise that I thought i was looking at a raccoon then, is it. It is native to East Asia, although is was imported to Eastern Europe for it’s fur.

Its not often that you see interesting, and actual wild life in a densely populated and highly developed country like Korea. Who says working out in the park does not pay off?