NON BOATY But what is this ?

A

atelford

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This little creature visits us every day at the bird table. I personally think it is a rat but others are not so sure. We are in N.Ireland. It seems to be living in the tree and coming down every couple of hours to munch on the wild bird seed. It has a long tail but looks furry, not bushy ! (I thought rats had pink tails). Anyone any ideas on what this could be. As I say I think its a rat but would be interested to see if anyone else disagrees. Apologies for the picture quality. They were taken from my security camera.

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No thanks. If it is a rat it'll make good .22 practice shots. But as much as I think its a rat.... theres just something that makes me think its something else. It doesnt have the evil look of a rat in its face and its tail is not bare. I thought it looks slightly gerbilish.
 
Rats have completely bald tails. Squirrels have large very bushy tails as thick as the body. I'd have suggested a dormouse which has a less furry tail but they aren't found in Ireland.

I think from the info so far it's a rat.
 
The following makes it fairly unlikely to be a Pine Marten...

"The pine marten is Ireland’s rarest wild animal. It is usually found in the west and south of Ireland. It is a shy animal and is also very hard to find. It looks like a stoat but has a longer body with short legs. It is also much larger and has a bushier tail. Its coat is usually a rich dark brown. Pine marten’s are sometimes called marten cats in some parts of Ireland. They are about the same size as a cat, but they have shorter legs and longer bushy tails. The pine martens length, head, body, tail is about 27” and it weights about 3 pounds.
 
It is not a Marten, we have pine martins out here but mostly Beech Martens, they come within a few feet of you at night and are found dead all over the island knocked down by cars.
I would guess at a doormouse or rat.
 
Its a RAT RAT RAT, absolutely no doubt about it. I have trapped and shot a couple that have come to our bird table. DO NOT tolerate them, they will move into the house next and you will be quickly over run.
 
We had squirrels last year that had no fur on their tails, probably caused by a virus of somekind really looked like "tree Rats"
 
Well I think its a nice example of Ochotona princeps, but as you are in Europe maybe its Ochotona pusilla, though how it got here is a bit of a mystery, maybe in fact its Ochotona rufescens , I have heard from a mate in the RAF that some squaddies out their have smuggled back some as pets....

It would make sense if he is particularly active right now, as he will be gathering in food for the winter, they dont hybernate.

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Ochotona princeps, or North American Pika.


OTOH he is probably just a common Rattus norvegicus, or brown rat..... still it would be nice if he was a Pika!
 
Plenty of replies ... but don't they all suggest that a better picture might lead to better identification (of human intruders too!) /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
 
You're all wrong!



I'm surprised that nobody has got it yet....



It is, of course......



A "Pedigree Siberian Hamster"



See here /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif



Andy
 
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