What is this animal?

[DeAZ]

I can’t believe my eyes! I swear this looks like a beaver to me but I don’t know if any creeks or ponds real close to us.View attachment 3668912

I can't see its tail but it might be a ground hog.

 

[Sheeba]

Yep; Ground hog

 

[Fluffy_Moth_With_Silkies]

I agree with everyone else, it's a ground hog. We get them all the time around here. Not a predator but very much so a pest

 

[Krugerrand]

There was a huge effort to get rid of Beavers across America because people thought them inconvenient. Turns out their dams are needed by so many habitats and other animals, and the water table for humans, that the government has since been returning the Beavers at great expense for decades.
Including air-drops from planes! In custom made boxes with parachutes, that open on landing.

If a creature is not preying on your livestock, threatening your family, or something you're going to eat, don't just kill them willy nilly. You don't know what benefits he brought until he's gone. That's also true of predators who avoid human habitation - they keep territory away from those with less fear, or less intelligence.

In our parts, they are incredibly prolific. No groundhog shortages here. If you do any gardening, as somebody mentioned, the can destroy a garden incredibly fast. If they tunnel near structures, they can destroy foundations.

My elderly neighbor's family used to eat them. I'm told they are quite tasty. That said, any we catch now get returned to the earth as deep fertilizer.

 

[SourRoses]

In our parts, they are incredibly prolific. No groundhog shortages here. If you do any gardening, as somebody mentioned, the can destroy a garden incredibly fast. If they tunnel near structures, they can destroy foundations.

My elderly neighbor's family used to eat them. I'm told they are quite tasty. That said, any we catch now get returned to the earth as deep fertilizer.

Well I don't know how easy it is to garden elsewhere, but here in Florida we have to protect our plants from everything anyway... burying wire around the beds is always a good idea. And above ground. And covering with bug netting which doubles as bird netting. And some spikes in the ground around the beds. We can't kill everything that dares to think of food as... food. Being proactive is more effective anyway.

 

[Chicken poppy]

Musk rat or a groundhog i think

 

[Wilderre]

Groundhogs are vegetarian. I have one under a shed.

won't bother chickens unless there is a possibility of disease transfer...ticks or fleas?... but sure will do a number on the foundation of any structure.

 

[ThatUserNameAlreadyTaken]

Yep yep. How much wood could a ground hog chuck…?? Lol. It’s that.

Groundhogs are vegetarian. I have one under a shed.

They do eat eggs and young chicks. A major part of their diet, depending on the time of year are ground squirrels and chipmunks.

"Groundhogs are herbivores. They eat primarily plants such as grasses, flowers, and other vegetation. Groundhogs only eat at safe distances from their burrows entrances. They also eat acorns and other nuts. They will eat insects that they come across as they eat plants. Groundhogs are also known to eat meat such as chipmunks or other small mammals they have found dead or killed themselves."

https://donnallong.com/fascinating-groundhog-facts/

 

[Doug Goolsby]

I can’t believe my eyes! I swear this looks like a beaver to me but I don’t know if any creeks or ponds real close to us.View attachment 3668912

 

[Doug Goolsby]

Good Morning Thats a hole digging GROUND Hogg its a Vegan