This one is a bit of a mystery. This furry little creature was captured by a trail cam in Cheshire, MA. The thing is though, I have no idea what the heck it is! It kind of looks like a mad scientist had mixed up a beaver and a weasel that at some point went on a food bender. Hmmm.

Is it a beaver?

My first thought is that maybe it could be a beaver and that the camera somehow distorted the image to give the tail that odd long triangular shape. I'm fairly sure it's not a beaver.

 

karen crewe
karen crewe
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(Above: A Beaver)

 

Is it an overfed weasel?

It sort of looks like a weasel that had a little too much, well, whatever weasels eat! But no... there's no way that is any kind of weasel.

 

fisher, den, tree
Betty4240
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(Above: A Weasel)

 

A Fisher maybe?

Is there any chance it could be a Fisher? It does have the body type, but that tail is a real mystery. I could use some help here.

 

Fisher (mammal) perched on a fallen tree
Lynn_Bystrom
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(Above: A Fisher)

 

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It could be an Otter...

I think my best guess is that it's an Otter. It does have the right tail, I think. I'm just not sure. If someone told me that if I guessed correctly I would get a million dollars, I would definitely go with an Otter. The tail looks too "Lizardy" though. Hmmm.

 

A picture from an otter.Ein Bild von einem Fischotter.
Cloudtail_the_Snow_Leopard
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(Above: An Otter)

 

So what do we know?

So what exactly do we know about this animal? We know it was spotted on a trail in Cheshire. We know it has fur. We know it has a long tail. And... we know it's a little plump.

 

Search: Inconclusive...

Well I, typed "other animals that look like an otter" into the Google machine. Here's what the return was:

Species that are often confused with the otter are beavers, raccoons, mink, and muskrats. Knowing a little about each of these other species can help you easily distinguish them from otters.

 

So... Your guess is as good as mine. Or maybe it's better than mine. I just know that there's someone out there that's going to read this and say "Duh, it's obviously a _________."

 

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