rodent! help me identify this one, please

[momophile]

This poor guy or gal is trapped in a window well of mine. The cat is scaring it something awful. I put a board down in there so he/she can escape. Oh, and I fed it basil, which it loved (now his/her breath is better too!). But my husband doesn't think it's a mouse. So what is it? A hamster? A gerbil? Please help!!

[Call Me Wesley]

1. Looks like a gerbil.

Second would be dormouse.

[momophile]

5. I was afraid it was a gerbil...

now I'll feel guilty just leaving it outside.

[billyskank]

2. Not a hamster. Look, it has a tail.

[momophile]

4. okay, so hamster is out

I thought they didn't have tails but it's been a long time since I had one.
:hi:

[billyskank]

6. How big is it?

Mice are very small. I don't think mice have fur on their tails either, so I think they are out too. CMW is probably right, most likely a gerbil.

[momophile]

7. it's body is maybe three inches long...

yeah, and fur on the tail - probably not a mouse. I don't know much about dormice though...

[momophile]

10. wikipedia says 3" for gerbil body...

sounds right...

[Tsiyu]

3. Squirrel?

Chipmunk?

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

8. It looks like a Gerbil.

[greatauntoftriplets]

9. I agree with CMW.

[momophile]

11. yeah, I think that is probably it...

:hi:

[greatauntoftriplets]

12. Happy to help!!

:hi:

[Chan790]

13. It's a vole

based on your location from your profile and the picture I think it's probably a vole. Cute little creatures but evilly destructive, they breed like rats (pun intended kind of), live obscenely long lives for a rodent (up to 18 months) and can decimate a grove or stand of trees at an alarming rate. You'd be wise to relocate him if you have fruit, nut or decorative trees because you won't by this time next year. Don't kill him though, they keep away other rodents and eat bugs.

[greatauntoftriplets]

14. Here's a vole photo....

[achtung_circus]

15. Not

Too much tail and too brown for a vole.

Gerbil on, Baby!

[Chan790]

18. well

It's Colorado (by her profile) and if it's a gerbil, outside at that height, it won't live long, they're really not climate-adaptive. They hate cold (it gets cold at night), they respirate at a extremely high rate (high altitude can cause breathing/blood-O2 issues for them even under the best conditions) and they eat constantly (not a hotbed of grain, their natural foodstuff).

Colorado is native terrain for western long-tailed voles however. The color and mottling is right and the tail is right, the face though is throwing me (voles have push noses (I'd forgotten that) and the angle here is too over-head but that face looks way-too-wide for gerbil, way-too-long for vole). I'm not saying it's not a gerbil...but I'm not convinced.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

16. I had a pet vole. It's not a vole.

[Control-Z]

17. Roof Rat?

If it is, you don't want to keep it. They are bad news.

[Gormy Cuss]

23. Looks too brown and cute for a roof rat.

Roof rats are the reason we don't have any tree branches within a few feet of the roof line. So far that has made us a less inviting habitat than some of our neighbor's houses.

[mike_c]

19. I think it's a deer mouse, Peromyscus maniculatus...

...although there are other Peromyscus spp. possibilities. Peromyscus maniculatus is probably the most common mammal in North America. That one looks ready for winter, too. Lots of pics online:

[Gidney N Cloyd]

20. Face is close but the ears don't match up. nt

[mike_c]

21. deer mouse ear size/shape varies widely....

It's too small for a gerbil and has too elongate a face. Gerbils have distinctive furry tails, too, with a tuft at the end.

[skygazer]

22. What difference does it make what it is?

If it needs to get out of there, simply reach in, grasp it by the tail, and lift it out. Place on ground in safe place. Rodent will scamper off.

My SO once woke me up because the cat had brought a live rodent into the house. The rodent had run down the stairs and was trapped on the landing between the two closed doors of the downstairs rooms. My SO had wrangled the cat into the bathroom and was preparing to go downstairs with the oven mitts and a box to try to get the rodent.

I just pushed him out of the way, stumped downstairs, picked up the rodent and put it outside.

He said, "How do you DO that?" :rofl:

[MrScorpio]

24. Hood Rat?

[momophile]

25. UPDATE: determined to be a gerbil, now lives 2 doors down

She let me pet her with a piece of bread. We are sure she has lived in a nice home before. After asking around at several houses, we let the neighbor kid take it home to his sister who has another gerbil. After scooping her up in a bucket, she let the boy pet her head and then pick her up. She should be fine.

The nieghbor behind us says he has seen several around. Maybe a whole family escaped. Or were let free. Regardless, this one won't be eaten by my kitty.

Thanks for all the input and especially the cute pictures!