I live in Golden Valley and I once saw an opossum in my back yard the size of a dog.
This look like your guy?
You know, Captain Lance makes an excellent point. Opossum would be the only one that really fits the slow movement part. Could it have been a large (probably pregnant) possum?
I can’t get to youtube from work, but try searching for video of each of these guys walking. . .
Maybe a fisher? It looks like their range extends into Minnesota, and they are somewhat beaverish from a distance but with skinnier tails.
Possums have a long, pointy snout. The OP said the snout was blunt.
IMO, it would be hard to mistake an opossum for an other common animal. The white face, pointy snout, scruffy looking light colored fur and rat tail is a dead give away.
(Walt Kelly supposedly observed that Pogo gained in popularity as he made the character look less and less like an actual possum.)
Must have been a pretty small dog, unless Golden Valley is frequented by Marsupials of Unusual Size.
Not entirely. Nutria still exist in a few small pockets in Minnesota; the USGS info is from 1978.
If I ever saw a dog-sized opossum, I’d leave the state immediately and indefinitely.
There are some ridiculously small dogs out there.
Well obviously dogs are of varying sizes, but when someone says “size of a dog” I don’t imagine something the size of a St. Bernard or a chihuahua.
And yet the albatross-sized mosquitoes don’t phase you…
Oh, they do.
So last weekend was gorgeous, and I had the bright idea to read by the river. Yeah, I don’t know why. First there was a giant thing on the bike rack, so I decided to just sit down and let my bike stand in front of me. Then there was a giant spider web with a spider inside on the bench. I said screw it, I’m going to the bar instead.
Where along the river were you? I think you’d be surprised what can live on the slopes down to the river in South Minneapolis, for instance.
And if she didn’t, was it invisible?
I don’t think they exist. Aaaraargghhgrigle…
Don’t go to their back rooms.
Admittedly I had absolutely no idea the the U.S. Geological Survey was in the least bit concerned with the distribution of and efforts to eradicate nutria. Go figure.
Downtown.
Capybara don’t have tails.