Name that mammal

[rolanni]

There's an animal on the deck, eating birdseed -- well, it had been eating birdseed, but we disturbed it, trying to figure out what the hotel it was, and now it's sitting in the dead tree we have strapped to the corner of the deck to make the birds happy.

At first, I thought it was a rat -- it's about that size -- then I saw the tail and thought it was a red squirrel, except it didn't make any sense for a red squirrel to be out in the pitch black depths of a blizzard. Then, we got a good look at its face and eyes -- night-seeing eyes and rounded ears -- absolutely without fear, even when kinzel opened the door and chucked a handful of snow at it.

I'm thinking it's a young fisher, but that's a guess solidly rooted in ignorance. Whatever it is, it's gonna freeze to death if it stays up in a bare, dead tree all night.

Comments

[jpsorrow.livejournal.com]

Could it be a possum?

[rolanni.livejournal.com]

Don't think so. Opossums up here have long, rat-like tails. This critter has a tail like a red squirrel -- kinda bushy, but not very long.

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

That almost sounds like a flying squirrel. They're nocturnal, have rounded ears, and we have them up here. Color? Photos? The Naturalist could help if you have pictures or a detailed description.

[rolanni.livejournal.com]

...and we have them up here.

Oh, do we? I didn't know they were this far north; we had flying squirrels in Maryland, but I've never actually seen one.

No photo of the Critter on the Deck, alas. Near as I can tell, it was a middling brown color. It reminded me of a (long ago) friend's pet chinchilla, except for the boldness.

It has, I can now report, removed from the dead tree and has hopefully gone someplace where it can weather the, um, weather.

[magda-vogelsang.livejournal.com]

From your description, a flying squirrel might not be big enough, but in any case:

According to this page (http://www.wellsreserve.org/news/2004-09-07_squirrel.htm):
"Maine is home to two species of flying squirrel, both of which are more common than you might think. Flying squirrels are about the size of a chipmunk, but are creatures of the night."

http://www.mainenature.org/ has an article on Flying squirrels in the Quoddy region, and mentions seeing them eating birdseed.

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

Well, The Naturalist agrees that flying squirrels fit your description. They are not rare, but are rarely seen -- part of the "nocturnal" bit. Like, folks at the nature center usually find (gross-out alert) just the tails, left behind by owls...

As noted by others, a fisher wouldn't be looking for birdseed. Might have tried to eat _you_, instead. They are vicious little beasts, and would be very interested in the resident cats.

[kinzel.livejournal.com]

Me, I say bingo on the flying squirrel ... thanks all!

[ferragus.livejournal.com]

Something like this:
http://www.nhptv.org/natureworks/fisher.htm

From the write up, I'm not sure if it would be raiding your birdseed though, now eating one of the birds, that sounds like a fisher.

Good luck to it, hope you can get a picture.

[rolanni.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure if it would be raiding your birdseed though, now eating one of the birds, that sounds like a fisher.

Yeah, fishers are, by all reports, very nasty creatures. Happily, they usually prefer to remain invisible. Still, we do hear of one or two cats every year who have been savaged by the things. Sometimes, the cat lives...

Re: Could be a fisher

[papersky.livejournal.com]

While I've never seen one, we used to have a picture book of a First Nations story about a fisher who made a hole in the sky and let the bird of the sun fly out into the world, so I have a very positive feeling about them.

[badgermirlacca.livejournal.com]

Or like this?

http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/dfw_fisher.htm

Fishers are in the weasel family, and I understand that weasels will eat anything that doesn't eat them first.