What wildlife do you see on your rides?

[Brandy]

Holy bunnies batman! Hundreds of them on the San Diego Creek Trail this morning, just before and after dawn. They were so cute. Kind of sketchy riding with them because they do the...FREEZE. I'M GOING THIS WAY. NO. I'M GOING THAT WAY...dance in front of your wheel. So cute though!

[Evie]

I saw something this morning, and I have no idea what it was!
All I saw was its silhouette, because it ran across the road in front of a car.
It was about the length of my wrist to my elbow, and about the height of my hand (wrist to fingertips). It carried its head very low, and it just sort of tapered off, so there was no distinct neck. It moved pretty fast, and its legs moved independently--no bounding the way a rat does in when it's in a hurry, and no rocking like most things do when they run. The legs were kind of stubby, and it carried itself up off of them. They were also pretty uniform; its back legs looked more like its front legs, and they weren't shaped like a rabbit's or possum's. It had no tail that I could see.

Any ideas?

[bcipam]

Take it it was a mammal of some sort? Do you have polecats, weasels, strouts, pine martens, minks or ferrets in your area? Or something like a ringtail cat?

check out this website:

http://freespace.virgin.net/peter.wilde3/mustelids.html

[Evie]

It was definitely a mammal, but it wasn't shaped like any of the weasels on that website. Its body wasn't as long or as arched. It was more dome-shaped than anything, looking at it from the side.
Here's what it more or less looked like:



At first I thought it might be a mole, but it carried itself too high, it didn't have the crazy nose, its feet were too small, and I've never heard of a mole sprinting in front of a car.
I was out before five this morning, so I'm assuming it was nocturnal.
And it most likely wasn't that color.

[bcipam]

Moles are very small, would fit in your palm. you said this animal was about 8 - 10 inches long? Could it be a marmot? Not certain if they are in PA but marmots are like big furry squirrels (think squirrels on steroids).

Or how about a muskrat?

Actually this is kind of fun - let's guess the weird mammal!!!

[Evie]

Haha! Steriods are the last thing any squirrel needs.

I think your marmot is what we call a groundhog. (At first I thought you meant those golden monkeys in the rainforest! That might be a marmoset, though...)
I've seen some of those in the pastures around here, But they're much too big and fat to be what I saw. The ones around I've seen tend to lumber around, too. This thing moved more like a beetle; its legs moved, but it's body didn't.

This has got to be the weirdest thing I've ever tried to describe. But you're right--I'm having fun trying to figure it out. I'm trying to think of things to compare it to, but nothing really matches. It was almost like a small possum or large rat, but without a tail, with different legs, and less of a neck.

There weren't any ponds or streams nearby (as I was in a development), but it may have been a muskrat who lost its tail to a snapper. I'm looking at a list of PA mammals right now.

[bcipam]

Well if you ever figure it out please let me know. You have me stumped!

[mimitabby]

they're usually near water..

[mimitabby]

they also have a tail