Can you ID this animal track?

[JDgreen227]

There was a dusting of snow overnight, and about a half hour ago I went out to the road for the newspaper and spotted these weird tracks. Not much snow, so not much detail, but the paw prints are a little bigger than the plastic screw on top of a gallon milk jug, and seven inches between the prints on each side of the groove. I am thinking a possum dragging it's tail?

 

[RobertBrown]

Could there possibly be an otter near you? Is there any rivers or large lakes in your immediate vicinity?
Could be an opossum. Seems like I usually see them with the tail off the ground.
That tail mark is not consistent so maybe the end of tail was curled as an opossum's is.
The paw prints look to be from a round, possibly webbed foot but it could be that the snow has melted a bit causing this.

 

[JDgreen227]

Thanks for your input...the nearest decent sized lake is about 10 miles away, and the closest branch of a river is at least 3 miles north. The only nearby water would be the drainage ditch a half mile to the south, and the tracks I followed came from the north. I have never even thought there might be any otters in this area.

 

[arrow]

This is a baby tyrannosaurus. You are very lucky.....for now.
Possums usually do not drag their tails. I'd guess a muskrat. They do drag their tails at times.

 

[JDgreen227]

I don't recall ever seeing a muskrat around here...woodchucks and raccoons and possums and skunks and deer, quite frequently. If you suspect the tracks are from a baby dinosaur, I will keep the cats indoors for now. Thanks for the tip. :laughing:

 

[powerpace]

Muskrat.

 

[arrow]

I don't recall ever seeing a muskrat around here...woodchucks and raccoons and possums and skunks and deer, quite frequently. If you suspect the tracks are from a baby dinosaur, I will keep the cats indoors for now. Thanks for the tip. :laughing:

I'd been living at my place for 22 years. Then one day out of the blue, I hear a noise under my work bench in the garage. I see this snake like tail and I'm thinking"this is the biggest rat known to man" I plug it a couple of times with a 22 magnum and that's when I found the first muskrat I had seen in all that time. Have not seen one since 17 years later.

 

[RobertBrown]

adds up...except for the lack of water. We don't have Muskrats around here, but I've lived were they do and they don't stray far from a large body of water, it's an aquatic rodent.....your neighbor got pet muskrat? Or a very strange looking poodle.....

 

[Clumber]

Looks like a lizard track. See example at:
ARKive - Little white whiptail videos, photos and facts - Aspidoscelis gypsi

 

[Tollster]

Its hard to say, but muskrats do drag their tails when on land and can roam pretty far from a water source prior to mating, they mostly take longer trips in the cover of darkness, particularly in unfamiliar areas. Opposum's on the other hand, drag their tale when moving slow, but hold it up when walking. I lean towards the rat.

 

[RobertBrown]

Looks like a lizard track. See example at:
ARKive - Little white whiptail videos, photos and facts - Aspidoscelis gypsi

Maybe it's a snow gator?

 

[arrow]

Can anybody identify this little critter? Its about 8" long. Looks like a cross between a chinchilla and a squirrel but that can't be. Then I thought it was a flying squirrel baby because of its flat tail but the color is odd. I'm up for guesses but right now I'm saying its a baby flying squirrel.

 

[arrow]

Looks like a lizard track. See example at:
ARKive - Little white whiptail videos, photos and facts - Aspidoscelis gypsi

Dang, it is a baby tyrannosaurus after all.

 

[RobertBrown]

Can anybody identify this little critter? Its about 8" long. Looks like a cross between a chinchilla and a squirrel but that can't be. Then I thought it was a flying squirrel baby because of its flat tail but the color is odd. I'm up for guesses but right now I'm saying its a baby flying squirrel.

That's what they look like down here. We have lots of them. Looks like that guy is having a bad day.
They don't get much bigger than that down here, so maybe it's not a baby. Seems like the babies would be born in the spring.

 

[arrow]

That's what they look like down here. We have lots of them. Looks like that guy is having a bad day.
They don't get much bigger than that down here, so maybe it's not a baby. Seems like the babies would be born in the spring.

Your reasoning of spring babies is probable RB. Perhaps this is a full grown one at that. If it is, its the first one I ever saw and I literally lived in the woods.

 

[powerpace]

Can anybody identify this little critter? Its about 8" long. Looks like a cross between a chinchilla and a squirrel but that can't be. Then I thought it was a flying squirrel baby because of its flat tail but the color is odd. I'm up for guesses but right now I'm saying its a baby flying squirrel.

Flying Squirrel. The cats catch the young ones in the spring around here.

 

[RobertBrown]

Your reasoning of spring babies is probable RB. Perhaps this is a full grown one at that. If it is, its the first one I ever saw and I literally lived in the woods.

I never realized how many there were until I started spending time in th woods at night.
Now I,m pretty sure that there are just as many flying squirells as ther are squirells.
Flying squirells are nocturnal. They are extremely difficult to see, but once you indentify thier calls, you realize that you are surrounded and out numbered.
If you are quick and patient you will be able to see them with a red right. They can see you at night and if you keep perfectly still they will come to you.
Just last week I had several within a few feet of my face. That is a little scary as I think they are predatory, not sure about that. They are very fast and fiy more than they climb. They seem to be having a great time fiying around a vocalizing.

 

[arrow]

I never realized how many there were until I started spending time in th woods at night.
Now I,m pretty sure that there are just as many flying squirells as ther are squirells.
Flying squirells are nocturnal. They are extremely difficult to see, but once you indentify thier calls, you realize that you are surrounded and out numbered.
If you are quick and patient you will be able to see them with a red right. They can see you at night and if you keep perfectly still they will come to you.
Just last week I had several within a few feet of my face. That is a little scary as I think they are predatory, not sure about that. They are very fast and fiy more than they climb. They seem to be having a great time fiying around a vocalizing.

Never knew that RB and is why I never saw them as I never chainsawed at night. As we had no winter per se around here this season, I didn't know if birth cycles were as screwed up as the maple syrup flow this year. That was part of my reasoning that it may have been a wee one, I do wonder what they sound like. Perhaps there is a sound bite somewhere on the net of them. Thanks for the info.

 

[fuseboxer]

Could the unknown critter have a fresh kill for breakfast in its mouth and dragging part of the kill? Pure quess.

 

[rgs03833]

Look like a Person with a Tail.... LMAO

:laughing:
:licking: