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Exploring God's Creation in Nature and Science
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Subject Topic: What could this animal be? Post ReplyPost New Topic
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mavmama
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Posted: June 03 2008 at 9:17pm | IP Logged Quote mavmama
This evening under our bird feeder we saw a small, brown rodent-type creature and have no idea what it was. Maybe someone here will?

It was about the size of my hand, furry, with a fur covered tail and short legs. It was stuffing sunflower seeds in its cheek pouches the way a gerbil would, and in fact, it looked a lot like a gerbil (on steroids ).
We are in the sandhills of NC, and when I asked a native, she had no idea what it might be.

We are also trying to identify a bird. The size of a thrasher, gray with a darker head, white on the tip of its tail. When it flies you can see white patches on the wings. Does this sound like a loggerhead shrike? That's the only picture in our bird book that comes close.

Any ideas?

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lapazfarm
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Posted: June 03 2008 at 9:46pm | IP Logged Quote lapazfarm
Could it have been a nutria?

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Theresa
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mavmama
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Posted: June 03 2008 at 11:38pm | IP Logged Quote mavmama
Theresa,
I was hoping you might see this since you are in NC. When I googled "nutria" the pictures looked like what I saw, but ours was tiny compared to those pictured. Our yard backs up to a wetland, so it could indeed be possible. But--yuck when I read that it was a giant rat! I rather liked thinking it was sort of cute and harmless. Do you think it will scare away the birds, and should we try to lure it away from the bird feeding area?

ETA: I just found a site that identifies it as a Cotton Rat. Well. So much for cute--yuck!

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lapazfarm
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Posted: June 04 2008 at 7:09am | IP Logged Quote lapazfarm
Oh, Cotton rats are not so bad. At least they are native, unlike the nutria.

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Stephanie_Q
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Posted: June 04 2008 at 2:34pm | IP Logged Quote Stephanie_Q
A thought on your unidentified bird: Eastern Kingbird?

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mavmama
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Posted: June 04 2008 at 3:09pm | IP Logged Quote mavmama
Stephanie! That's it! Thanks so much
We are so excited to be seeing so many differnet birds at this house. Being from the midwest, these are all new to us. What fun!

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