Identify Mystery Rodent

[+AuntieWeasel]

Okay, I know this is off-topic for this site, but you're a bunch of outdoorsy people and I need some outdoorsy help quick. I'll get onto the Fish and Game next, but they'll be gone for the day.

 

I just went out to get something from the car and this thing was lying in my driveway:

 

It's about an inch and a half long, not counting its tail. Fully furred. Rodentlike. Tail not fluffy enough for baby squirrel, but fully haired, unlike a rat. Little ears. Long thin face. Eyes still closed, but it's lively and strong and mobile. Walks around unless you hold it (it's probably cold). Feels like it might even have teeth (not agressive, just trying to nurse my finger). Closely resembles some baby squirrels I found and raised a few years ago, but much smaller (I reckon a squirrel this small would be naked and helpless).

 

I'm in urban Rhode Island.

 

I've raised lots of orphans over the years, so I'm okay for tonight. I've got some cream, which will do watered down until I can get some Esbilac. It's easy to handle, isn't jumpy, takes to the eyedropper. It's had a meal and a bath and a poop and a nap. Squeaks when it's frustrated. Grooms itself after a meal, which implies it's getting pretty mature.

 

WHAT THE HECK IS THIS THING? If you say "weasel," I'll bite you.

[+Stunod]

Ground Squirrel/Chipmunk?

[+carleenp]

My guess is baby groundhog. The face kind of matches and most smaller rodents would not have fur that young.

 

I'm just guessing though. I really have no idea!

[+AuntieWeasel]

Way too big, I'd've thought. And no stripes, though I don't know if baby chipmunks have stripes. He's an aghouti brown, with a white underbelly. Like a wood mouse or something, but...I dunno. Wood rat? I dunno.

 

Edited to reply to carleenp: long, thin tail precludes that.

Edited August 3, 2004 by AuntieWeasel

[+Huntnlady]

Looks like a vole.

[+Stunod]

Way too big, I'd've thought. And no stripes, though I don't know if baby chipmunks have stripes. He's an aghouti brown, with a white underbelly. Like a wood mouse or something, but...I dunno. Wood rat? I dunno.

I agree he's too big for my guess, but not all chipmunks have stripes.

 

I guess you're just gonna have to raise him until he's big enough to figure out what he is

Edited August 3, 2004 by Stunod

[+carleenp]

Maybe it is a pika (the real kind not the pikachu kind)!

 

Actually I like Huntnlady's suggestion of a vole. I had forgotten about them.

Edited August 3, 2004 by carleenp

[+hydee]

Maybe the Little Leprechaun came up with her own version of the family signature item?

 

Other than that I don't really have any guesses that haven't already been made. I tend to avoid rodents so I am not very knowledgeable on them.

[+briansnat]

Some sort of trout I think.

[+AuntieWeasel]

Looks like a vole.

Ooooh! That's a good guess! I just did a google image search (no idea what a vole looked like).

 

He's mighty skinny, but I just found him crawling around in a driveway, didn't I?

[ju66l3r]

My vote is for:

 

Meadow Vole

[Pto]

A Shrew? thats my guess

[+carleenp]

Some sort of trout I think.

Yes! That is it! A Brown trout! When it grows up, you can smack Brian with it too!

Edited August 3, 2004 by carleenp

[+Robespierre]

I ruled out shrew, and any common mouse. The vole thing seemed possible, so I googled north american vole, and the best possible matches seem to be either rock vole or meadow vole for you part of the country and for looks.

[+Huntnlady]

Some sort of trout I think.

Or maybe it is a shrubbery.

[+AuntieWeasel]

Meadow Vole

I hope you're right. That article says they're weaned at two weeks and wander off on their own; I could just about manage that without having to find a surrogate. I've got a cat and, more to the point, a corporate gig. It won't be the first time I've smuggled baby rodents into my office, but it would be a hell of a thing to lose my pension over.

 

Awww...poor little ratface has curled up against a Mason jar full of warm water. Thinks it's his mama.

 

Thanks, everyone. Here's hoping he makes it through the night...

[+carleenp]

Do you have a wildlife rescue group in your area? Where I am there is a very active group and I have always just called them with such situations. I have no idea about such organizations outside of Nebraska though.

Edited August 3, 2004 by carleenp

[+Huntnlady]

Put it on a heating pad. Their body temp is supposed to be about 102.

[+AuntieWeasel]

When I found those squirrels a few years ago, I called rescue groups for days and days. Everybody was 'full up.' I ended up having to raise them myself.

 

And, no, my heating pad got thoroughly...squirreled. I'm hoping a jar of microwaved water with a washcloth around it will do. Don't know what I'll do for it overnight, though...when the jar cools, it'll be deadly.

 

And for all of you thinking, "what sort of nutjob handraises a baby rat? The world has rats enough." I know, I know. My mother is looking down from...wherever she ended up and pointing and laughing. It would be one thing if the cat brought one in dead. It's quite another to hold an infant one trying to nurse your thumb.

 

I'm a complete sucker for that kind of thing.

[ju66l3r]

Most small rodents (mouse, vole, etc) wean quickly. Tending experimental mice, I would separate litters at around the 1.5 week mark at which point they were running around and creating enough havoc in the cages by themselves without 8 others helping. If he's anything like a mouse, you can leave him in a closed cage during the day and he'll survive. If he's active at all (usually at night) then you could probably even put him back outside and he'll take off on his own from here.

 

If he has food, water, and padding/wood chips, then he'll survive without a pre-warmed whatever. None of the facility where I worked used any warming apparati in the cages and they did better than fine at growing (in size and numbers) even from the naked baby stage.

Edited August 3, 2004 by ju66l3r

[+AuntieWeasel]

I'm guessing he's got at least a week of growing and fattening to do. He's at that clumsy 'big head' stage and his eyes are still closed.

 

 

Wow! Does he so look not cute here.

[SiClops]

And for all of you thinking, "what sort of nutjob handraises a baby rat? The world has rats enough." I know, I know. My mother is looking down from...wherever she ended up and pointing and laughing. It would be one thing if the cat brought one in dead. It's quite another to hold an infant one trying to nurse your thumb.

 

I'm a complete sucker for that kind of thing.

 

Hmmm Am I the only one that noticed this on the Vole website:

 

Known predators

• owls

• birds of prey

• snakes

• foxes

• weasels

 

What's that last predator again??

[+tirediron]

Hmmm Am I the only one that noticed this on the Vole website:

 

Known predators

• owls

• birds of prey

• snakes

• foxes

• weasels

 

What's that last predator again??

I'm sure they only mean Uncle Weasels though...

[+El Diablo]

Just cover it and its own body heat will keep it warm. A cool jar of water will draw its body heat away.

 

BTW...did you check the area that you found it for the rest of the litter? Because he/she couldn't have traveled far, unless the cat helped. Of course if your cat is anything like mine it would be a kitty snack by now.

 

El Diablo

[+woof n lulu]

You could try putting dried beans or rice in a sock with a rubber band. That can be micro'd and will hold heat much longer. When it loses its heat the vole will still have his body heat to keep the area warm.

[+Mopar]

Well, since we are posting "rescue me" pics, here's the kitten we found playing in traffic during a rainstorm last week. We had originally thought he was hit by a car because he was covered in blood. Tried to take him to local animal hospital, but they were closed. Took him home and cleaned him up, and his injuries were really pretty minor and more likely from a fight with another animal or kids.

 

 

 

Hope our rescue me doesn't eat your rescue me!

Edited August 3, 2004 by Mopar

[+BlackBuck]

That looks like a baby grey squiral check if theres a nest nearby .

[+AuntieWeasel]

You could try putting dried beans or rice in a sock with a rubber band. That can be micro'd and will hold heat much longer. When it loses its heat the vole will still have his body heat to keep the area warm.

Hey, that's a great idea! How very clever. He's sound asleep on top of the Mason jar now (got up there by himself), twitching in his dreams.

 

What on earth do you reckon baby voles dream about?

 

And yes, el D, I went out and did a sweep and didn't find any other wildlife. He's not in any way damaged, like he was brought in by the cat or anything. Little animals usually die of shock when that happens, anyway, even if they survive Puss. Though that doesn't mean his mother didn't meet a Terrible Fate. I'm totally mystified how he got here.

 

This is a neighborhood, with yards and trees, but you can see downtown from my rooftop. There is a mucky urban stream at the foot of the hill, surrounded by waste ground that, I'm sure, harbors all kinds of varmints. But that's a good .2 of a mile away. How did this little varmint end up in my driveway?

[+El Diablo]

Rain storm lately? Could be a hawk lost its grip? Or, my best guess would be that he/she was sent to an angel!

 

El Diablo

[+fly46]

Not sure what to do about keeping him warm. I'd say go to WalMart and get a heating pad that hasn't been squirreled.

[+AuntieWeasel]

Well, since we are posting "rescue me" pics, here's the kitten we found playing in traffic during a rainstorm last week.

Actually, Mopar, that's a perfect opportunity for me to bring the thread on-topic for geocaching.com.

 

Somebody just this minute logged my travel bug Empress of the Sofa, which I released on Sunday to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the day I trapped a feral kitten in my garage with a squirrel trap and a can of tuna. She's become a really great cat.

 

I've found that stray animals make fantastic pets. They seem to keep some bedrock sense of gratitude.

 

Whew! Life is full or weird coincidences, ain't it? So, like, is a stray animal going to arrive at my garage the beginning of every August?

[+woof n lulu]

You could try putting dried beans or rice in a sock with a rubber band. That can be micro'd and will hold heat much longer. When it loses its heat the vole will still have his body heat to keep the area warm.

Hey, that's a great idea! How very clever. He's sound asleep on top of the Mason jar now (got up there by himself), twitching in his dreams.

 

What on earth do you reckon baby voles dream about?

 

And yes, el D, I went out and did a sweep and didn't find any other wildlife. He's not in any way damaged, like he was brought in by the cat or anything. Little animals usually die of shock when that happens, anyway, even if they survive Puss. Though that doesn't mean his mother didn't meet a Terrible Fate. I'm totally mystified how he got here.

 

This is a neighborhood, with yards and trees, but you can see downtown from my rooftop. There is a mucky urban stream at the foot of the hill, surrounded by waste ground that, I'm sure, harbors all kinds of varmints. But that's a good .2 of a mile away. How did this little varmint end up in my driveway?

momma might have been transporting the little one somewhere else and something happened.......

 

If you make the sock, dont overstuff it...you want to be able to form a kinda doughnut and put baby in the middle..then cover with washcloth...that should hold heat fairly decently.

[+Tsegi Mike and Desert Viking]

He's cute.

 

I raised a Harris groundsquirrel once that our cat dragged home. Chip's rear legs did not look like your critter's legs. The tail on yours is longer as well. I don't think he fits a chipmunk/ ground squirrel profile. Your animal has a more pronounced tail and rear legs. I would look for an animal like that.

 

Strays make good pets, I wholeheartedly agree. Some of my favorite cats were strays.

[+Rebel]

Looks like a squirrel. Cute little guy (gal). More info.

[kayaker22589]

Couldn't be a squirrel. I had one for six weeks last year. I think its a vole.

[+Corp Of Discovery]

Here are my rescue photos. I found this at my job around the 1st of July. Our town has no animal control so I caught it, found a place that would take it and then transported it there. I work in a residential area- the closest 'wilderness' was at least 1 mile away. No sign of the mother anywhere.

 

 

 

[+ADKcachers]

I think it's a mole. Does the correct guesser win anything?

[+Larry.s]

Is this it?

 

[uperdooper]

I think it's a mole. Does the correct guesser win anything?

it's not a ground mole. they have front feet like paddles with nails.

[+Mopar]

I'm guessing he's got at least a week of growing and fattening to do. He's at that clumsy 'big head' stage and his eyes are still closed.

 

 

Wow! Does he so look not cute here.

He looks like this guy:

 

 

hmmmmmmm.

[+Ambrosia]

He doesn't look anything like those pictures of baby squirels. The fur is wrong, for one thing.

[+Larry.s]

He doesn't look anything like those pictures of baby squirels. The fur is wrong, for one thing.

True, but maybe he's not 4 weeks old yet.

[+KG7JE]

When I was a kid momma cat brought in and started to nurse a baby chipmunk. I can only guess that the baby was crying and hungry. Mom rescued before the cat wised up to the difference in progeny!

 

Raised it to full growth and let it hibernate through the winter. Saw it a few times the following summer playing tag with the dog. Yes, that was "playing" and "tag" between a chipmunk and a dog!

 

Then there was the year the baby grey squirrels crawled out onto the forest path. Found them while hunting for the cows. They were a riot when raised.

 

But, I’m pretty sure what you have there is not either one. I’m liking the vole or shrew (might be a bit big for a shrew though) theory.

[+greyhounder]

The only little baby creatures I've ever had to raise after Momma abandoned them were piglets. I can confidently say that what you have found are not piglets, and therefore I am of no help at all.

 

It's very cute anyway....

 

Bec

[+4x4 Trail Busters]

Has anyone ever thought that it might be an OPOSSUM?

[uperdooper]

Has anyone ever thought that it might be an OPOSSUM?

i live in 'possum central. not a 'possum.

[+GeoKender]

Looks like a Scrat.

 

It is an Eastern Grey Squirrel(Sciurus carolinensis).

here is a link to help you to care for it.

http://www.squirrel-rehab.org/squirrels/photo1.html

 

Hope it helps. Good luck.

[+Spzzmoose]

Some sort of trout I think.

[+Two & the Zoo]

Auntie Weasel, you have a big heart. Hope the little baby makes it okay. I'd call a vet. Best wishes to the baby.

[+JMBella]

I got it!!! That's a baby New England n00b!!