Brown Furry Animals in the Road

So i'm driving down the road to work this morning and have to swerve to avoid hitting a squirrel. Damn thing...running all over the place, all crazy-like. I looked in my rearview mirror, only to see something that certainly was NOT a squirrel.

I backed up...of course.

In the process of backing up I ended up in the wrong lane so I could be closer to the animal perched on the edge of the road. It was obviously trying to decide the best course of action. I think it was confused by the reverse action of my x-terra.

I stared at it as the large brown creature that resembled a lemur / monkey, ran up the road in front of me, then, in leaps and bounds, jumped it's way across the road.

I was enthralled. I had also forgotten that I was sitting in the road...in the wrong lane.

A car rolled up beside me and, being incredibly excited, I started pointing like a madwoman to the side of the road that was now blocked by the other car. I figured they may see the phenomenon I had glimpsed.

Turns out the sheriff was not as amused as me. He looked a bit concerned.

When it dawned on me that it was an officer, I started laughing histerically and rolled down the passenger window. Mind you...It did not dawn on me to be embarrassed. I was actually considering jumping out of my car to follow the little brown fellow into the tall grasses for another look.

When the window came down far enough, I yelled to the sheriff "I swear I saw a monkey crossing the road!" If it had been nighttime, I would have been asked to step from my car.

I started laughing again when I realized how that must have sounded.

The poor guy was looking at me with concern. He asked "Are you alright miss?". I gathered myself and told him I was fine. I inquired whether there were any wild animals in the area that looked like lemurs. He told me there was everything from bobcats to any number of animals.

I inwardly thought to myself that I was happy I was dressed in my work clothes or else I would have seen the "hippie light" come on over his head. I would have been late for work.

I thanked him and he looked at me like he wanted to ask if I had run out of my medicine.

He nodded, then sat there staring at the road for a second, and drove off.

I pulled into the driveway closest to me, and sat there trying to decide if I should get out and wait, hoping to see it again.

I knew I was going to need medicine if I didn't quit it.

I pulled away and set off to work. I told that story 5 times througout the day, then got home that evening and shoved my husband off the computer. I looked up small mammals in NC and found only 1 animal it could have possibly been. Unless someone's pet lemur had escaped and was on the run, I had found a Mink.

I was wondering why it couldn't have been the Chupacabra......sometimes the internet sucks.