Royston Posted January 31, 2008 Posted January 31, 2008 I'm amazed I havn't asked this before, but this happend roughly ten years ago, and for some reason I was thinking about it last night. Anyway, I was walking back from a friends house, and took the normal route past the local hospital on a main road. I noticed an animal in the distance, but couldn't make out if it was a cat or a young fox (it was quite large) then it came hurtling towards me, and instantly I thought it was a particulary large sewer rat. However, it stood up on it's hind legs and was jumping and squealing very loudly. I noticed it had prominent front teeth, similar to a rodent, light brown in colour, but it was far too big for a rat, it was very slender almost sinewy, and I believe it had quite a long tail. It then turned and run towards a young couple who were walking towards me, got up on it's hind legs and started squealing again, before running across the road and hiding under a parked car. I passed the couple, and we just looked at each other with very bewildered looks on our faces...I went to check under the car where it had fled to, but it had already gone. Remember this is in the UK, so I thought it was an escaped pet, but it's the size, behaviour and the fact it could jump on it's hind legs which has left me clueless as to what it could be. So, any ideas, what this mammal is ? No, I wasn't drunk at the time.
Dak Posted January 31, 2008 Posted January 31, 2008 sounds like a weasel or a ferret maybe, did it have a relatively long and agile kneck?
CaptainPanic Posted January 31, 2008 Posted January 31, 2008 Perhaps it was a ferret or a weasel? Not sure if they can walk/jump on their hind legs, but I don't see why not with some practice. They're very active and lively animals... Or it was an escaped miniature kangaroo?
Royston Posted January 31, 2008 Author Posted January 31, 2008 sounds like a weasel or a ferret maybe, did it have a relatively long and agile kneck? No, it had a short neck, and the hind legs were too large for a weasel or ferret. It was definitely more rodent like, but nothing like I've ever seen before. I've just found a picture of a Nutria, if you can imagine one of these, but much slimmer, light brown and completely manic...that's a pretty close resemblance to what I saw.
Royston Posted January 31, 2008 Author Posted January 31, 2008 Are you sure it wasn't a weasel? Positive, I would have recognized a weasel straight away. This was far too large for a weasel, stoat, polecat, ferret et.c (incidentally my sister used to own two polecats, certainly didn't resemble anything from that family, that come from the UK.) Remember I confused this with a cat or small fox regarding its size, it was certainly petrified (in unfamiliar surroundings) which means it could of escaped from somewhere...I'm determined to identify this animal now, so I'll scour the net and hopefully I can find an image of what I saw. I do like that weasle pic Paralith
hermanntrude Posted January 31, 2008 Posted January 31, 2008 sounds like an otter to me. where do you live? by a river or near the coast? wales, maybe, or scotland, somewhere rural? otters are on the increase, and although they're fairly reclusive this one may have just been going crazy, perhaps it had been hit by a car or was guarding young ones or something
Paralith Posted January 31, 2008 Posted January 31, 2008 At first I didn't think an otter would be big enough to be mistaken for a cat; but I looked it up and the only otters found in Europe, the European Otter Lutra lutra, reach an adult height of 12 inches and a length of 2 -3 feet. You could probably mistake that for a cat. They don't look that different from weasels, though, and if it looked nothing like a weasel then it may not have been an otter. The only other rodent-like animals that are that size that might be found in the UK that I can think of are raccoons, but it's hard to mistake a raccoon for something else. Other than that, all the bigger rodents aren't found in Europe.
Royston Posted January 31, 2008 Author Posted January 31, 2008 Thanks all for the responses, still the closest resemblance is the Nutria picture I attached...we do have some animal parks (not really zoo's) roughly 20 miles away, but I'm certainly puzzled as to what it could be. Hermanntrude, I live on the south coast near Brighton, and an otter is something I'd be able to identify (spotting wildlife was something I did avidly whilst traveling, so I have quite a good eye for differentiating species.) If I come across anything, I'll be sure to post it on here.
Mr Skeptic Posted February 6, 2008 Posted February 6, 2008 Perhaps a possum? They sometimes go on the ground, and are active at night.
hermanntrude Posted February 6, 2008 Posted February 6, 2008 At first I didn't think an otter would be big enough to be mistaken for a cat; but I looked it up and the only otters found in Europe, the European Otter Lutra lutra, reach an adult height of 12 inches and a length of 2 -3 feet. You could probably mistake that for a cat. They don't look that different from weasels, though, and if it looked nothing like a weasel then it may not have been an otter. The only other rodent-like animals that are that size that might be found in the UK that I can think of are raccoons, but it's hard to mistake a raccoon for something else. Other than that, all the bigger rodents aren't found in Europe. weasels are MUCH smaller than stoats and otters and cats
Glider Posted February 7, 2008 Posted February 7, 2008 The only other rodent-like animals that are that size that might be found in the UK that I can think of are raccoons, but it's hard to mistake a raccoon for something else. Other than that, all the bigger rodents aren't found in Europe.We don't have raccoons in the UK (unless one escaped from somewhere). The closest thing we have are badgers. Neither are rodents and neither have prominent incisors. Badgers don't have long tails either, nor do they make high-pitched squealing noises. Otters have long tails and make high-pitched noises, but don't have prominent incisors (nor do any member of their family; weasels, stoats etc.). We don't have many large rodents at all in the UK. Rabbits and hares are about it. Neither of those have long tails. Grey squirrels are another, but they're hard to mistake. If it's not an otter, it doesn't sound like any native animal.
hermanntrude Posted February 7, 2008 Posted February 7, 2008 it sounds a bit like a musk rat, but i dont think we have them in the UK.
Klaynos Posted February 7, 2008 Posted February 7, 2008 Otters have long tails and make high-pitched noises, but don't have prominent incisors (nor do any member of their family; weasels, stoats etc.). These where my thoughts exactly... How sure are you that you saw the prominent teeth?
Royston Posted February 7, 2008 Author Posted February 7, 2008 These where my thoughts exactly... How sure are you that you saw the prominent teeth? Sorry, missed all the recent responses...the large incisors were a feature I distinctly remember, it was only a foot away when it was jumping and squealing. Hmmm, could have been an ex-girlfriend, all things considered The mammal certainly wasn't native to Britain.
atom42 Posted February 7, 2008 Posted February 7, 2008 aaaaahhhhhhhhhh! I don't know WHAT that thing could'a been BUT this thread is giving me the creeeeeppppsssss! Yikes!!! I cannot stand anything in the rodent family! I don't care HOW much longer they've been on this Earth than us!! WOW!!!!
Daecon Posted February 7, 2008 Posted February 7, 2008 I'd have mistaken that picture of a Nutria for maybe an Otter or a Beaver...
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