# I saw an animal yesterday **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 15, 2007, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-an-animal-yesterday/426516 "2007-11-15T09:47:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2007, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-an-animal-yesterday/426516/21 "2007-11-16T00:11:29Z")
[QUOTE=Duckster] Microsoft employee doing field research for Vista? [/QUOTE] BITE your tongue! I’m a die hard Mac user! I live on the _other_ side of the lake. (There is no life east of Lake Washington.) **jimmmy** I would have noticed that tail. I could have missed a ratty one, but that big tail is hard to miss. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2007, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-an-animal-yesterday/426516/22 "2007-11-16T00:18:44Z")
[QUOTE=picunurse] BITE your tongue! I’m a die hard Mac user! I live on the _other_ side of the lake. (There is no life east of Lake Washington.) **jimmmy** I would have noticed that tail. I could have missed a ratty one, but that big tail is hard to miss. [/QUOTE] As I said, doing field research. You do know they want to take over the world. Bwahahaha! I would be surprised if it were a nutria. Can they really climb chain-link fences? ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2007, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-an-animal-yesterday/426516/23 "2007-11-16T00:36:37Z")
I just talked to a biologist from Fish and Wildlife. He said it was deninately _not_ a nutria. They don’t move very fast and they don’t climb. He suggested it might be a raccoon with either a color variant or with mange (eww). His other suggestion was a fat dog. :rolleyes: He said it was unlikely to be a marmot. They avoid populated areas. There aren’t any woodchucks on this side of the mountains. He said if I see it again to photograph it and send them the picture. I’ll probably never know. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2007, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-an-animal-yesterday/426516/24 "2007-11-16T01:06:35Z")
So what they’re saying is, it was a midget in a costume. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2007, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-an-animal-yesterday/426516/25 "2007-11-16T12:24:24Z")
How about a [bobcat](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobcat)? The color is not a perfect match, but there are variations in coats and you said it was moving fast. In fact, the Lewis and Clark notes on the Pacific Northwest’s [_Lynx rufus fasciatus_](http://www.lewis-clark.org/content/content-article.asp?ArticleID=345) subspecies (as it is now known), describe it as “reddish brown.” ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2007, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-an-animal-yesterday/426516/26 "2007-11-16T12:47:52Z")
[QUOTE=bbs2k] Honestly, it was you fighting my ignorance. I had no idea there was such a thing as a real snipe, I had only heard the reference made to the fictional creature and was kinda caught in an anti-whoosh when you cited their existence. [/QUOTE] Sorry, I meant the generic _you_, rather than you personally - what I don’t get is how this traditional hoax got started - I’d have thought it funnier to have the victim chasing after something that _doesn’t exist at all_, rather than _merely isn’t there_. It’s a bit like if, instead of sending the new apprentice out for a tin of Elbow Grease or a left-handed screwdriver, he was sent out to ask for something that exists, but isn’t in stock at the store. It falls a bit flat. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2007, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-an-animal-yesterday/426516/27 "2007-11-16T13:04:02Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] Sorry, I meant the generic _you_, rather than you personally - what I don’t get is how this traditional hoax got started - I’d have thought it funnier to have the victim chasing after something that _doesn’t exist at all_, rather than _merely isn’t there_. [/QUOTE] Lewis Carroll wrote a poem about a hunt for a non-existent beast, called [The Hunting of the Snark](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hunting_of_the_Snark) (that word itself now with a rather different meaning in internet times). I wonder, given the similarity of the subject and the monosyllabic word starting in “SN”, if this hasn’t just become mutated over time. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2007, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-an-animal-yesterday/426516/28 "2007-11-16T15:07:32Z")
[QUOTE=tomndebb] How about a [bobcat](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobcat)? The color is not a perfect match, but there are variations in coats and you said it was moving fast. In fact, the Lewis and Clark notes on the Pacific Northwest’s [_Lynx rufus fasciatus_](http://www.lewis-clark.org/content/content-article.asp?ArticleID=345) subspecies (as it is now known), describe it as “reddish brown.” [/QUOTE] It was rounder, with little ears. While it isn’t impossible, I’d be very surprised to see a bobcat in downtown Seattle. They were pretty common when I was a kid, but I lived in a more rural area then. (Not that it’s still rural there, even.) Heck, we even saw cougars and bears (no tigers, though) then. This was something I’ve never seen. I should explain too, how close it was. We have a bonus room in the basement. When we remodeled, we converted a window well into a modified garden window. The fence is three feet from the window and I was about the same distance on the other side. ---
**Author:** ![lokij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5e9695/32.png) [@lokij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lokij)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2007, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-an-animal-yesterday/426516/29 "2007-11-16T15:29:19Z")
[QUOTE=picunurse] It was rounder, with little ears. While it isn’t impossible, I’d be very surprised to see a bobcat in downtown Seattle. They were pretty common when I was a kid, but I lived in a more rural area then. (Not that it’s still rural there, even.) Heck, we even saw cougars and bears (no tigers, though) then. This was something I’ve never seen. I should explain too, how close it was. We have a bonus room in the basement. When we remodeled, we converted a window well into a modified garden window. The fence is three feet from the window and I was about the same distance on the other side. [/QUOTE] Could it possibly have been a [fisher?](http://home.mcn.net/~wtu/fisher.html) ---
**Author:** ![lokij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5e9695/32.png) [@lokij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lokij)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2007, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-an-animal-yesterday/426516/30 "2007-11-16T15:33:38Z")
[QUOTE=Sailboat] [Pine Marten](http://home.mcn.net/~wtu/marten.html)? Here’s a “redder” pic: [Marten](http://www.turtletrack.org/Issues02/Co12282002/Art/PineMarten.jpg) Sailboat [/QUOTE] DOH! heh, I just linked to the exact same website and suggested a Fisher. I really must read ALL the thread before replying from now on. _sighs_ ---
**Author:** ![democritus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@democritus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/democritus)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2007, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-an-animal-yesterday/426516/32 "2007-11-16T19:44:28Z")
If not la chupacabra, its gotta be a ninja welsh corgi. ---
**Author:** ![Plynck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Plynck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plynck)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2007, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-an-animal-yesterday/426516/33 "2007-11-16T19:51:58Z")
[QUOTE=spoke-] Verisimilitude? [/QUOTE] :rolleyes: Silly. You’re never going to get a bunch of Boy Scouts out of bed at midnight to go on a Verisimilitude hunt. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2007, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-an-animal-yesterday/426516/34 "2007-11-16T20:20:27Z")
I, also, have never seen nutria climb. They’re ubiquitous near many bodies of water in the Willamette Valley (including in the yards of people who live nearby). ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-an-animal-yesterday/426516/35 "2007-11-17T01:11:30Z")
[QUOTE=picunurse] **jimmmy** I would have noticed that tail. I could have missed a ratty one, but that big tail is hard to miss. [/QUOTE] I saw a woodchuck the other day without a tail. I kinda wonder if it maybe got smashed by a car or something since they are always getting hit around here. And they can climb amazingly fast for something as fat as they are. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-an-animal-yesterday/426516/36 "2007-11-17T04:06:19Z")
My husband wasn’t home when I saw it. So, he has decided that it was, without a doubt, a Tyrannosaurus Rex. :rolleyes: His reasoning? I’ve never actually seen a T Rex, so how do I _know_ it wasn’t. He’s not always so funny, but he tries. **jsgoddess** , the F&W biologist said we don’t have woodchucks in western Washington. **democritus** , you’re right, the biologist said they don’t climb, and they don’t leave the protection of the water. **Bugs Cunny** , no, no bloodless or otherwise dead animals. **democritus** , you could be right, every corgi I’ve ever known was pig fat, and could climb anything. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-an-animal-yesterday/426516/37 "2007-11-17T04:14:42Z")
[QUOTE=picunurse] **jsgoddess** , the F&W biologist said we don’t have woodchucks in western Washington. [/QUOTE] I won’t claim to be some sort of wildlife expert, but when I did a search on them I found pest control people in the Seattle area who claim to deal with them, which would seem odd if they aren’t around there. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-an-animal-yesterday/426516/38 "2007-11-17T04:31:47Z")
[QUOTE=jimmmy] A [Woodchuck](http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Marmota_monax.html) is the biggest Marmot in the PNW and can and does climb stuff (behavior in the cite) and can look reddish and “groundhoggy” as well. [/QUOTE] I just saw this post and now wonder if we have a language barrier. Around here (SE Ohio) the terms “woodchuck” and “groundhog” are synonyms for Marmota monax. So woodchucks are “groundhoggy” in that they are groundhogs. My dad also called them whistle pigs. I’ve never heard of another animal being called a woodchuck, which doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist! ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-an-animal-yesterday/426516/39 "2007-11-17T06:10:25Z")
[QUOTE=jsgoddess] I won’t claim to be some sort of wildlife expert, but when I did a search on them I found pest control people in the Seattle area who claim to deal with them, which would seem odd if they aren’t around there. [/QUOTE] Hmm. I’m surprised. You could be right. Maybe, he was just trying to keep it simple, so as not to confuse the poor, demented woman on the phone. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-an-animal-yesterday/426516/40 "2007-11-17T06:37:56Z")
[QUOTE=picunurse **democritus** , you could be right, every corgi I’ve ever known was pig fat, and could climb anything. :D[/QUOTE] There are dogs who climb chain-link fences? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![jillscott8763](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@jillscott8763](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jillscott8763)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-an-animal-yesterday/426516/41 "2007-11-17T09:26:11Z")
[QUOTE=picunurse] It was light, reddish brown, about twice the size of an average house cat. It had a round body and very short legs. It’s ears were small and tight to it’s head. The tail was either very short or nonexistent. I saw it climbing our chain link fence (very quickly, I might add) so I didn’t get a good look at the snout. It climbed the fence then jumped from the top, about 5 feet. The only animal I’ve ever seen that looks anything like it, was Punksatony Phil in _Groundhog Day_, but since I live in the Pacific Northwest, I’d be surprised if it was a groundhog. Any guesses? [/QUOTE] A cat? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-an-animal-yesterday/426516.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-an-animal-yesterday/426516.md?page=3)