People knowledgeable about animals. Found a feather-like thing

[rumpel]

do you know what this is?

[Canuckistanian]

1. Looks like a peice of raccoon tail

Looks about the right texture and color.

[porphyrian]

4. Yeah, that definitely looks like a tail.

I'd say it was squirrel if it weren't for the stripes. You're probably right about it being raccoon.

[rumpel]

8. Thanks. Racoons are all over the place. Do you think he lost his whole

tail?
Poor thing, must be a small guy.

[FSogol]

12. probably just lost the tail end of that tail

I see squirrels with that truncated tail (they lose it to fights with other squirrels or cats) all the time.

[Karmageddon]

14. that's an awful small racoon tail (look at the pen). maybe it's a feather

[Canuckistanian]

28. That's why I said "piece"

I don't think the owner of that article is happy.

[Ladyhawk]

31. It's not a piece of raccoon tail.

I raised three raccoons and this is not Procyon lotor related.

[beingthere]

2. From a racoon's tail

[Ladyhawk]

32. No, it's not.

I don't know what it is, but it is not from a raccoon's tail. I'm very familiar with Procyon lotor and it has nothing to do with raccoons.

[sinkingfeeling]

3. Looks like a tuff of raccoon tail to me.

[XNASA]

5. A merkin?

:shrug:

[porphyrian]

6. You are probably one of three people who know what that is. - n/t

[XNASA]

9. Well, there's you and me and who else?

[atommom]

10. I admit it, I'm the other one.

[XNASA]

15. This calls for a Lounge post.

:think:

[Beetwasher]

13. Me, LOL!

:rofl:

[punpirate]

24. Four... :) n/t

[porphyrian]

26. The people who wrote this book know, too:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312207735/103-9778283-4626257?v=glance&n=283155

[eppur_se_muova]

30. President Merkin Muffley in "Dr. Strangelove"

If you'll remember, quite a wuss...

[librechik]

38. I'm wearing one

just kidding--I got my own.

[Karmageddon]

11. LMAO

[rucky]

19. I'm A Merkin...

Merkin born right here in the U.S.of A.

do I have a tail too?

[brainshrub]

7. Wasn't there some weird animal named "Oscar" last year?

Was that animal ever identified? Does anyone have a link to that thread?

[A-Schwarzenegger]

34. You don't mean this one, do you?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=624815

[brainshrub]

48. Yes! That was a legendary thread!

Now that it's all over, what kind of animal was it anyways? Did you ever get a picture?

[rumpel]

16. Thanks to all. I think I take the racoon. It feels more like hair than

feather, even though it has a core spiney thing in the center. Then again, a tail would have bones in a dog. It is very different from a dog isn't it.

:)

[Beetwasher]

17. A Tail is Cartlidge, Not Bone

n/t

[Brotherjohn]

21. Nope. Most of the vertebtrate tail is bone.

Here's a pic of a racoon skeleton:

[Beetwasher]

27. Cool! Didn't Know That! Thanks!

Dogs too? I always thought it was cartlidge. Is the whole tail bone? Or is the end cartlidge? I had a dog that got the end of it's tail accidentally cut off and it seemed like it was cartlidge, not bone, but I could be wrong...:shrug:

[Ladyhawk]

33. No, it's not from a raccoon. See my other post.

I'm guessing it's a feather from some kind of flightless bird. If it has a quill, then it's a feather, but since the barbules are not connected, it is probably from a flightless bird.

On edit: It does look like fur, but it's not from a raccoon's tail. Some other animal is involved.

[alfredo]

18. If the shade is brown, it is male, if gray, it is female.

[rumpel]

20. then it's a boy!

[alfredo]

23. he might have gotten into a bit of

a tussle.

[Ladyhawk]

36. Bullshit. :)

I raised two males and a female and they were identically colored.

[alfredo]

37. I guess you are right. The males I have seen were brownish, but

that doesn't mean they are all brown. The two females that haunt our back yard were both grey.

[Ladyhawk]

41. I've studied raccoons for much of my life.

They were my favorite animals when I was a kid and I raised three at different times. I've observed both "tame" and wild raccoons very closely and done a lot of studying of raccoons and their relatives. I'm nearly 100% certain that whatever that piece of fluff is, it's not from a raccoon's tail. The look and coarseness bears some similarity to raccoon fur, but individual hairs are not banded like that.

It looks vaguely familiar, but damned if I can figure out what the hell it is. :shrug:

I wasn't trying to be a smartass. I just want to keep bogus info from being disseminated. ;)

I wish I could get a look at that fluff in person. I'd take it to a naturalist if I couldn't figure out what it was because it would be driving me nuts. :) Hell, it is driving me nuts. In my mind I've gone over all the native mammals and bird species and none of them seems right. :wtf:

It looks mammalian, but might have a quill like a feather. Some birds have feathers with barbules that don't connect, but I can't think of any feather that looks like that. I give up. :shrug: Maybe the OP will find out and let us know what the hell it is. :D

[alfredo]

49. Some squirrels will have raggedy tails like that, but the Reccoon

is the only one I know of with any kind of banding on its tail.

When I was a mail carrier, one family had a pet Raccoon, a dog and big black rabbit. The dog would follow me, so the Raccoon would follow the dog, and the rabbit would want to see what where they were going. They would roam free in the neighborhood. I wish I would have taken a photo of this motley crew.

[hyphenate]

22. My first guess

is also that it's a part of a raccoon tail. Poor little guy--looks like he took a licking, but let's all hope he's still ticking!

[rumpel]

29. I did not find anything else. Keeping my fingers crossed.

:)


on a second thought, there are also quite a few owls around here....

[sui generis]

25. five

:blush:

[Ladyhawk]

35. It's not from a raccoon, but it looks vaguely familiar.

Damn, now I'm going to wonder. :)

A piece of a raccoon's tail that size would not have that much banding. The banding is much more widely spaced and each hair is one distinctive color. From the photo it looks as if each hair or barbule (whichever it is) is banded. Raccoons do not have banded hairs on their tails, but rather a pattern of dark fur followed by lighter fur, followed by dark fur, etc.

[antigone382]

39. It looks like some type of pin-feather.

Hidden beneath their outer, stiffer featgers, birds have underlying feathers that are softer and more hair-like...that's what this looks like...and you say there is something spiny in the middle, right? That's probably what it is.

[AlienGirl]

40. At the bottom of it, does it have a tiny piece of skin, or

a feather shaft? From the photo it looks more feather than fur to me.

Tucker

[Ladyhawk]

42. Yeah, I'm leaning that direction, too.

Whatever it is, it's NOT from a raccoon. :)

[AlienGirl]

43. I think I can see the feather shaft in it

Feather of a Barred Rock chicken maybe?

Tucker

[Ladyhawk]

46. You know, I bet you're right.

In an above thread I wondered if it might be a feather from a flightless bird and that just about fits the description.

[AlienGirl]

47. I wish I could see whether it's flat, and

whether its strands act more like fur or feather when you blow on them!

Tucker

[catchnrelease]

44. Doesn't appear to be

a feather. I've worked professionally with birds for 25+ yrs (in a zoo) and this doesn't look like a feather to me. I think the bit that looks like a quill is a piece of dried skin. I've found pieces that look very similar to this in a cage that had many ground squirrels in it. The tail hair/fur is banded like this in some individuals, and they are pretty vicious when they fight with each other. Somebody gets a hunk ripped out, and the skin dries, shrinks and gets hard. And I agree, doesn't look like raccoon hair, the color banding is different. That's my educated guess.

[AlienGirl]

45. Looking at the edges, it looks more like fur

But toward the center it looks more like the shaft of a feather. Maybe a really long thin piece of dried skin? If it is fur and not feather, I think ground squirrel is probably right.

It looks like something I would have tied flies with, when I was a kid!

Tucker