Last night when I went down to close the coop door and get the food inside I saw a small animal scurry through the run. I saw very clearly 2 white stripes and so for a moment I thought maybe a baby skunk. But it didn't move right, and I couldn't find it once it disappeared. This morning there was a lot of digging around the base of the landscaping log on which we put the waterer. The hole is about 3 inches in diameter. yipes!
So tonight I waited and watched. Sure enough, right around sundown, a critter poked it's head out of the hole, came out briefly and then must have sensed me... it turned around and went back into the hole. I waited for about an hour and it never came back out. It probably has another exit.
Anyway, I cannot for the life of me find this guy on the internet. I only saw it for a couple of seconds, so my description is not perfect, but here it goes:
1.) gray overall - white stripes along it's sides - or maybe it's stomach is white (I was looking down on the run). I'm not sure.
2.) when it first poked it's head out I thought mouse, then I thought BIG mouse, then I thought rat. But it was too furry, so then I thought baby rabbit - but the tail was full - not rat or mouse like, but longer than a rabbit's for sure.
3.) the tail - this is the part I'm not really sure about, because it turned around and went back in the hole so quickly. I am sure it wasn't like a mouse or rat because that is what I was expecting... more squirrel like but not so long.
4.) size: smaller than a squirrel - I've never actually SEEN a rat in the 'wild' (not pet store) but I would say about that size - but furrier so it looked a little bit bigger.
5.) definitely nocturnal.
Any thoughts/pictures would be appreciated. You can bet that I'll be back out there tomorrow night at sundown trying to get a better description...
Oh - I live in Colorado, if that helps.
So tonight I waited and watched. Sure enough, right around sundown, a critter poked it's head out of the hole, came out briefly and then must have sensed me... it turned around and went back into the hole. I waited for about an hour and it never came back out. It probably has another exit.
Anyway, I cannot for the life of me find this guy on the internet. I only saw it for a couple of seconds, so my description is not perfect, but here it goes:
1.) gray overall - white stripes along it's sides - or maybe it's stomach is white (I was looking down on the run). I'm not sure.
2.) when it first poked it's head out I thought mouse, then I thought BIG mouse, then I thought rat. But it was too furry, so then I thought baby rabbit - but the tail was full - not rat or mouse like, but longer than a rabbit's for sure.
3.) the tail - this is the part I'm not really sure about, because it turned around and went back in the hole so quickly. I am sure it wasn't like a mouse or rat because that is what I was expecting... more squirrel like but not so long.
4.) size: smaller than a squirrel - I've never actually SEEN a rat in the 'wild' (not pet store) but I would say about that size - but furrier so it looked a little bit bigger.
5.) definitely nocturnal.
Any thoughts/pictures would be appreciated. You can bet that I'll be back out there tomorrow night at sundown trying to get a better description...
Oh - I live in Colorado, if that helps.
