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

[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!