Strange animal

Originally posted by eaglewingz
From the appearance of head and tail, I would say a river otter :

uh-huh..for me i think its river otter too...

Definitly part of the Mustellae family which includes Ferrets, Polecats, Minks, Skunks and Otters.

I'll go with Riverotter as well or some other ferret/weasel like animal.

I own two ferrets so I know a whole bunch about them and their "family".

Diffenatley one or the other.

Muskrat Pic
www.science.mcmaster.ca...

Water Vole Pic
internt.nhm.ac.uk...

Plymbridge woods, as refered to here, being where ... exactly ?

Are we talking Plymbridge Woods, up off the back of Forder Valley / Novorossisk Rd kinda way ?

That might help to pin down what this unfortunate little creature is, or was, I should say.

It's way too long to be a Muskrat or Vole...

Check this Wiki...Mustelidae

The pictures clearly depict a ellongonated body.

that thing looks like a dead weasel. or otter. but what i don't get is why it would be hanging off the branch like that

At first I thought this was a fisher because of the head,but looking closer I see the front claws are webbed.I guess I will side with the Otter group.Go to pws.prserv.net...[/url] and check out the picture.See the similarity?

its not a water wole it has paws at to me all the pictures look like drawings

Originally posted by anitawee
its not a water wole it has paws at to me all the pictures look like drawings

they're taken with a camera phone, they aren't gonna turn out spiffeh


where did you see them? like..what state?

My money would be on it being a Pine Marten, they do love a good branch. shame it wasn't alive they're pretty rare

The real question is who hung a dead otter on a branch. Honestly, no animal poses balanced over a branch in death.

Originally posted by scientia
The real question is who hung a dead otter on a branch.

Probably someone called Mother Nature. The dead otter washes downstream when the current is high, then snags on a branch. The water lowers, and voilà! One dead otter hung on a branch.

Originally posted by 0951
Plymbridge woods, as refered to here, being where ... exactly ?

Are we talking Plymbridge Woods, up off the back of Forder Valley / Novorossisk Rd kinda way ?

That might help to pin down what this unfortunate little creature is, or was, I should say.

Thats the one. Plymbridge road goes down through liegham and then back up past wrigleys. It was about two miles away from that green pool place.

Originally posted by librasleep
Diffenatley one or the other.

Muskrat Pic
www.science.mcmaster.ca...

Water Vole Pic
internt.nhm.ac.uk...

Its was too big to be a water vole. Dunno about a muskrat. I rekcon otter now.

It looks like a water vole to me. Voles are much smaller in size compared to an otter.

The Water Vole (Arvicola terrestris) is a semi-aquatic mammal that resembles a rat. In fact, water voles have often been mistermed, "water rats". Water voles have rounder noses than rats, deep brown fur, chubby faces and short fuzzy ears; unlike the rat their tails, paws and ears are covered with hair.

In the wild, they survive for 5 months on average, most do not survive a second winter. In captivity, they survive for a maximum of 5 years.

Water voles reach 5-9 inches in length (120-235mm) plus a tail of 55%-70% of this. Adults weigh from 6-12 ounces (160-350g), juveniles weigh less but must reach around 5-6 ounces (150g) to be able to survive their first winter.

nope not a water vole they are small little varment like a lemin or mole hence vole rat sized im steering toward otter its size seems quite right and does its physical attributes. Sea otters are huge in comparison, im backing the otter theory.Plus i think if im not mistaken they are indigenous to europe mainly ENgland..

[edit on 15-9-2005 by dj949]

hmmm i think tht everybody has a good explanation! but i'm stil not sure wht it is....pretty sure its an otter tho....