Wildlife experts: What kind of animal is this? ~New Pics page 11~

[racuda]

Well, in that case I'm going vote with you for a tailless raccoon.

It makes scenes that the published field guides would show an approximation of a track in some kind of substrate rather than the actual foot itself.

I'll have to go back and review the many raccoon game cam pictures I have to see if maybe this one has shown up before.

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

Dude it's a muskrat! I just googled them and it looks exactly the same.

 

[sourland]

That would have to be a muskrat on steroids.

 

[woodmort]

Quote:
One of the rules of biology is that the range of an animal depends on the number of grad students and funding. I can show you a 2009 range map for feral swine which doesn't show them in NYS but that doesn't account for the 300 pounder that was shot near Tulley last year nor the ones my neighbor spotted in his field. Just saying there is no guarantee that they haven't migrated to your lake which may account for only one photo of one--it may be the first.
I seriously doubt it is a coon, tailless or otherwise, it isn't marked correctly nor does the fur match anything I've ever seen on a coon unless it were soaking wet. That fur is of the type a water-living mammal would have.

 

[chickortreat]

Quote:
Wonderful way of putting it. This was the point I was trying to make in another thread when I said that just because you don't see one in the park on Fridays doesn't mean they're extinct. It's easy for people who make their living "studying" something to find a reason that something "needs" to be continually studied.

 

[mississippifarmboy]

Quote:
One of the rules of biology is that the range of an animal depends on the number of grad students and funding. I can show you a 2009 range map for feral swine which doesn't show them in NYS but that doesn't account for the 300 pounder that was shot near Tulley last year nor the ones my neighbor spotted in his field. Just saying there is no guarantee that they haven't migrated to your lake which may account for only one photo of one--it may be the first.
I seriously doubt it is a coon, tailless or otherwise, it isn't marked correctly nor does the fur match anything I've ever seen on a coon unless it were soaking wet. That fur is of the type a water-living mammal would have.

Right on Woodmort. Everybody knows there are no Cougars in Mississippi too. That sure don't explain the two dead ones I've seen personally. One was shot by a coon hunter freind of mine, the other was hit by a car and was laying on the side of the road. Both several years ago, but I saw those with my own eyes, not on some website.

 

[HLAC]

It's a raccoon.

I've skinned hundreds and that hind foot is a dead giveaway. Not too mention the dark fur around the ears and head shape.

Raccoon fur comes in many colors and they can have silky fur or even wavy fur. I have caught several that don't have tails. Usually old boars that have hardly any ears left either. They can brawl pretty hard.

 

[The Wolf Queen]

Any other mystery creatures on your game cam yet???

 

[dawnjoennikki98]

 

[foxinachickenhouse]

I would not be surprised at all if you had nutria around your lake. I agree that they are likely far more widespread than the range maps indicate, just like the above posters have stated. For a nutria of that size I would expect there to be a well established population in your area. Sign should be clearly visible in that case, mud slides into the water and the scat especially, broken vegetation along the banks where they forage. Their populations grow rapidly and they are destructive and horrible garden pests. If you find that you do have them I suggest geting rid of them ASAP. I see them often during the day and they are slow and unafraid. A .22 should do the trick. In Louisiana they have started eating them, apparently they are quite tasty. I still think this thing is neither nutria, muskrat nor beaver. The skull shape just doesn't match, and the foot shape is not representative of the long webbed toes of semi-aquatic rodents. Nutria tails are thick and long and rat-like as are muskrats, I can't imagine a beaver without a tail surviving very long, they use the tail for thermoregulation and would become hyperthermic without it in temps above about 70.

You might send the photo off to your local wildlife biologist, I'm sure he/she would love to geek out over such a mystery, and if they think it's nutria they will be grateful to know that they are now dealing with this invasive species...keep us posted!
And please keep the game cam pics coming! Such fun!