Trying to figure out what the heck kind of animal this was in our backyard

[Guaranteed]

Yesterday I saw this foot-and-a-half long little guy running around on four legs. Its hair was grayish-brownish-blackish. My wife says it was a gopher, but this was too big, and totally the wrong color. She saw it a couple of days ago. It wasn't an oppossum or a skunk. Or a raccoon- he wasn't loping along like raccoons do. He was pretty low to the ground, and waddling.

What it looked like was a badger, but without the stripes. More of a solid dark grayish color. But, about the same size, and he waddled along like I would imagine that a badger would. Or, kind of a like a beaver, but without that kind of tail.

We live in central Illinois. Any ideas as to what this guy might be?

[miss_american_pie]

1. Groundhog?

Muskrat? :shrug:

[Guaranteed]

4. You know, it could very well have been a groundhog.

He was pretty chubby looking.

Lemme check out what muskrats look like.

[Guaranteed]

5. Probably wasn't a muskrat...

Didn't have the rat-like tail. Looked more like a groundhog, I'd say.

[Random_Australian]

2. A leprechaun.

:D

[Blue-Jay]

3. Oscar.

Might as well get that in first. Now, nobody else has to say it.

[jobycom]

16. Thanks. And may I say I'm impressed it took this many posts! nt

[Blue-Jay]

21. Look downthread.

People don't read.

[jobycom]

23. I noticed, and I've noticed. nt

[A-Schwarzenegger]

24. Noticed what?

[jobycom]

33. The Oscar reference below, and that people post without reading.

Greetings, Oscar dad.

[A-Schwarzenegger]

34. More peoples don't read, more Oscar references!

More happy for him & me! Greetings back.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

6. A yeti pup.

[greendog]

7. Be careful, it might be dangerous...

[AccessGranted]

8. I've Had Those in My Yard for Years and . . .

I still don't know what the heck they are. They look exactly what you described. I just picked out my own name for them. I call them "Willies" or "Fur Boxes". Be care - if they are the same creatures I have in my backyard they burrow and make your yard into shredded wheat. Also, they reproduce like I-don't-know-what. I swear they pop out like three batches of babies every summer. I'm in Jersey.

[RandiFan1290]

9. Nutria?

Maybe?

[Blue-Jay]

14. I live in constant fear that a nutria will attack me.

There hasn't been a sighting in Chicago yet, but those fuckers are resourceful and evil. One day, they will find me and dispose of me.

[zanne]

32. They're only dangerous when they're high.

Usually, they're very friendly, but there's nothing worse than a Nutria on crack. (By the way, doesn't the word "Nutria" sound like a breakfast cereal?)

[NNadir]

10. It sounds like the groundhogs we have around here.

I've had to fill in several abandoned burrows on my property. Big diggers, they.

We had one that lived in our yard for years. I'm sorry to say I haven't seen that feller (or gal) lately, though.

[blockhead]

11. woodchuck?

[SmokingJacket]

12. Probably a groundhog, and will eat your entire garden

if you have one.

I hate those fat-asses! I had one guy who was too lazy to run away when I showed up in the garden and caught him eating my beets -- he would just go hide behind a clump of weeds.

[Guaranteed]

18. LOL! Yeah, this one wasn't moving too fast. nt

[gollygee]

13. Yeah, sounds like a groundhog

we've got one living under the shed. My husband thinks it's cute.

[Guaranteed]

17. It was definitely a cute little sucker. nt

[redwitch]

15. Was it Oscar?

I miss him! :cry:

[KittyWampus]

19. Fun Groundhog fact: they have a seperate area in their burrow for shitting

and clean that out daily by bringing it to the surface and then burying it.

The word "woodchuck" comes from the Indian word Oijik (wejak), or Wojak. Indian lore has it that their forbears began life as animals; the woodchuck was recognized as the "grandfather" of the earliest inhabitants of the area.

[havocmom]

20. Marmot?

Some pic on this page:
http://images.google.com/images?q=Marmot&sourceid=mozilla-search&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&sa=N&tab=wi

[puerco-bellies]

38. Seen a Yellow Bellied Marmot last weekend in Sequoia Nat Forrest.

Cute Not-so-little guys.

[leftofthedial]

22. that's dick cheney when he doesn't get his "treatments"

he's been sighted in the Midwest recently

just a large rodent.

[KitchenWitch]

25. it was Oscar!

:P

[leftyladyfrommo]

26. It's a marmot. We have them here - really cute little guys

Can weigh up to about 30 pounds - and they bite - so stay away from it.

[kwassa]

27. Wolverine

Must be from Michigan

[xchrom]

37. sigh -- hugh jackman.

[bmbmd]

28. If there was only one

it probably wasn't a trifid.

[Bassic]

29. A wolverine maybe?

[Squatch]

30. What you've got there is your ol' Chupacabra

[zanne]

31. Nutria?

I don't know what they look like, but I had to join in.

[Downtown Hound]

35. That was your backyard? Sorry about that...

I waz just lookin' for a beer. All members of the Downtown Hound species do that.

[Atmashine]

36. We have beavers

in the neighborhoods here in KC.