Change of plans leads Holland Drive resident to cross paths with ‘big happy family’ of civets
Due to their shy and nocturnal nature, civets are not always easy to spot.
A Holland Drive resident, however, encountered not one but five common palm civets while out getting groceries on the night of Sept 3.
Stomper Rai shared a video taken near Block 9 Holland Drive at around 8.40pm, showing the civets climbing a tree and running around.
He can be heard saying, “Big happy family” and exclaiming in wonder as he observed the animals.
“I think they were a happy family playing around or trying to find food,” Rai told Stomp.
He said the sighting made him happy, adding: “I also felt shocked because that was my first time seeing a happy family of wild animals happily walking in an HDB estate.”
Silver lining to a minor inconvenience
The interesting thing? Rai would have missed the sighting on a regular day.
He told Stomp: “I was going to FairPrice but the item I wanted was not available, so I walked another outlet near Holland Village MRT station.”
According to the National Parks Board, civets are usually found living in forests, parks, mangroves and even roof spaces of buildings in urban areas.
They are shy and tend to stay out of sight, but may attack in self-defence. Members of the public are advised to keep a safe distance and observe from afar when encountering civets.
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