Help me identify this urban wildlife.
June 7, 2010 6:43 PM Subscribe
Driving home from work in D.C., I spotted something crossing the street in front of me, followed by three youngsters. I work at Buzzard Point, so this occurred about three blocks from the Anacostia River. I got within about 20 feet of the critters and still couldn't figure out what they were.
They looked a lot like nutria, especially in the muzzle area, except they most definitely did not have long tails. Grayish brown fur. The adult looked like it might weigh around five or six pounds. The kits/pups/whatever were about half the size of the adult. They looked confused and out of their element, and finally made it to the safety of a vacant lot with tall grass.
They were most definitely NOT rats, which I'm pretty adept at spotting after 20 years in D.C.
I've tried the Smithsonian and I'm not seeing anything, but it doesn't necessarily have to be native, I suppose.
They looked a lot like nutria, especially in the muzzle area, except they most definitely did not have long tails. Grayish brown fur. The adult looked like it might weigh around five or six pounds. The kits/pups/whatever were about half the size of the adult. They looked confused and out of their element, and finally made it to the safety of a vacant lot with tall grass.
They were most definitely NOT rats, which I'm pretty adept at spotting after 20 years in D.C.
I've tried the Smithsonian and I'm not seeing anything, but it doesn't necessarily have to be native, I suppose.
Racoons? Possums?
posted by procrastination at 6:47 PM on June 7, 2010
posted by procrastination at 6:47 PM on June 7, 2010
Response by poster: Not a raccoon or a possum. I've been up close and personal with those. I think the groundhog might be it. But what are the odds of seeing one in the middle of D.C.?
posted by ereshkigal45 at 6:50 PM on June 7, 2010
posted by ereshkigal45 at 6:50 PM on June 7, 2010
I know, I know, it doesn't really fit the description, but I liked the idea of wild capybara wandering through D.C., and they do kind of look like really big nutria.
posted by Diagonalize at 6:50 PM on June 7, 2010
posted by Diagonalize at 6:50 PM on June 7, 2010
They're bigger than you describe but I've seen beavers in Rock Creek before.
posted by Some1 at 6:52 PM on June 7, 2010
posted by Some1 at 6:52 PM on June 7, 2010
Muskrats.
posted by Short Attention Sp at 6:52 PM on June 7, 2010
posted by Short Attention Sp at 6:52 PM on June 7, 2010
Response by poster: It looked a lot like a capybara, and that was actually one of my first thoughts, except the logs weren't that long. Just looked at pics of woodchucks and groundhogs, and think it was closer to the woodchuck, especially in the head shape and size, but again, what are the odds of seeing one in D.C.? (For those not familiar with D.C., Buzzard Point is heavily industrial.)
posted by ereshkigal45 at 6:52 PM on June 7, 2010
posted by ereshkigal45 at 6:52 PM on June 7, 2010
Groundhogs = woodchucks. They're rodents. They're everywhere.
posted by (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates at 6:54 PM on June 7, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates at 6:54 PM on June 7, 2010 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: All of these are good possibilities, except that I'm stumped (hah) by the lack of a long tail on the critters I spotted.
posted by ereshkigal45 at 6:57 PM on June 7, 2010
posted by ereshkigal45 at 6:57 PM on June 7, 2010
I see groundhogs every time I drive the George Washington Parkway. Every time. That's what it was.
posted by MrMoonPie at 7:02 PM on June 7, 2010
posted by MrMoonPie at 7:02 PM on June 7, 2010
Odds of seeing a groundhog in the middle of DC? High. They're _very_ happy in urban environments. I've seen 'em in both major cities I've spent considerable time in (Boston and Detroit) and trapping/relocating them is practically my hobby here a few blocks from downtown Ann Arbor. Damn things LOVE strawberries, unfortunately. Can't think of any reason they wouldn't be equally happy in any abandoned lot in the CONUS.
posted by pjaust at 7:07 PM on June 7, 2010
posted by pjaust at 7:07 PM on June 7, 2010
There are groundhogs in Northern Virginia, Maryland, and the D.C. area. They loves business parks with grassy nooks. They're one of the types of animals that have adapted quite well to urban sprawl. I used to see them at least once every two months on the GW Parkway.
posted by Mizu at 7:12 PM on June 7, 2010
posted by Mizu at 7:12 PM on June 7, 2010
Response by poster: The consensus seems to be groundhogs. Cool! I had no idea they lived in the city. I've probably seen them and thought they were rats.
Thanks, all! If I spot them again, I'll try to be quicker-witted and grab a picture.
posted by ereshkigal45 at 7:15 PM on June 7, 2010
Thanks, all! If I spot them again, I'll try to be quicker-witted and grab a picture.
posted by ereshkigal45 at 7:15 PM on June 7, 2010
Woodchucks are everywhere on the east coast. It was a game in the car (when I was a child) to spot them in the grass & low brush at the sides of the thruways.
posted by janell at 7:32 PM on June 7, 2010
posted by janell at 7:32 PM on June 7, 2010
Are you sure it's not a possum? There's a whole family of them living in my neighborhood near the convention center, and I think they fit your description.
posted by meta_eli at 8:05 PM on June 7, 2010
posted by meta_eli at 8:05 PM on June 7, 2010
I see groundhogs several times a week - probably thousands over the past thirty years. I had never seen their tails before you mentioned it and I looked at the photos. Odd.
posted by saucysault at 8:08 PM on June 7, 2010
posted by saucysault at 8:08 PM on June 7, 2010
I saw something similar to what you are describing when I was in Cancun this winter. I immediately thought "small capybara"/"large nutria" when I saw them.
Agouti
But yeah, probably a groundhog.
Are you sure it's not a possum? I would describe Possums as "pointy", and they have a long, rat-like tail, so that's probably not it.
posted by ArgentCorvid at 8:15 PM on June 7, 2010
Agouti
But yeah, probably a groundhog.
Are you sure it's not a possum? I would describe Possums as "pointy", and they have a long, rat-like tail, so that's probably not it.
posted by ArgentCorvid at 8:15 PM on June 7, 2010
Opossums have long, rat-like tails. They are also shaped "funny".
posted by gjc at 5:04 AM on June 8, 2010
posted by gjc at 5:04 AM on June 8, 2010
It's not uncommon for groundhogs/whistlepigs whatever you want to call them to get to ~40lbs around here in Appalachia. You're just east of us. If it was pretty big (small dog, ish), it wasn't a muskrat. If it didn't have an elongated face like an alien and a long tail, it wasn't a possum (Opossum). Possum's that aren't rabid also generally shy away from sunlight.
Muskrats would be near water...and have tails, and are slung lower to the ground, they tend to look like giant wet rats.
Beavers have huge, hard to miss tails. The kind of look like giant hamsters with a stubby face, and they waddle more, they don't move real fast on land.
My vote is for groundhog. Groundhogs tend to kind of hug the ground when they scamper, but they can move pretty darn fast. This is also the right time of year for baby groundhogs.
posted by TomMelee at 6:05 AM on June 8, 2010
Muskrats would be near water...and have tails, and are slung lower to the ground, they tend to look like giant wet rats.
Beavers have huge, hard to miss tails. The kind of look like giant hamsters with a stubby face, and they waddle more, they don't move real fast on land.
My vote is for groundhog. Groundhogs tend to kind of hug the ground when they scamper, but they can move pretty darn fast. This is also the right time of year for baby groundhogs.
posted by TomMelee at 6:05 AM on June 8, 2010
Chiming in on likelihood of groundhogs -- there was a family of them in my backyard every year in Ithaca, New York, but I never got a close look at them or their tails until a decade later in Ann Arbor. Hi, pjaust! They're also much, much faster than you would expect -- when sufficiently motivated, they practically gallop.
posted by bettafish at 7:06 AM on June 8, 2010
posted by bettafish at 7:06 AM on June 8, 2010
Best answer: Here's a picture of a baby groundhog I took just the other day. They are all over the place on the east coast and I've often seen them around DC and Baltimore. They're perfectly happy in cities and particularly in overgrown sort of post industrial areas. Right now the babies are exploring and wandering around with mom and/or dad - they'll be out on their own in another couple of weeks. They pretty much always look mellow, dazed and confused - the stoners of the rodent world - unless they think that you or your dog is a threat, in which case they will double or triple in size, reveal giant teeth, make this totally alarming screechy whistle noise of doom and come straight at you.
So, yes, it totally could have been groundhogs. What would make me think it might have been muskrats, though, is the size. The baby groundhog in my picture was probably already around 8 to 10 pounds and the adults, as TomMelee says, can easily get to around 30 to 40. If the adult you saw was really only 5 - 6 pounds, than it wasn't a groundhog. Muskrats look very similar to groundhogs but are smaller and have long tails. Since you were only 3 blocks from the river, it could have been a muskrat. They're quite common in the area as well. People around Baltimore eat them - you can buy the meat over on Washington Street in East Baltimore, although I never have done this and probably never will.
oh and yeah, groundhogs = woodchucks = marmots = whistle pigs.
posted by mygothlaundry at 7:31 AM on June 8, 2010
So, yes, it totally could have been groundhogs. What would make me think it might have been muskrats, though, is the size. The baby groundhog in my picture was probably already around 8 to 10 pounds and the adults, as TomMelee says, can easily get to around 30 to 40. If the adult you saw was really only 5 - 6 pounds, than it wasn't a groundhog. Muskrats look very similar to groundhogs but are smaller and have long tails. Since you were only 3 blocks from the river, it could have been a muskrat. They're quite common in the area as well. People around Baltimore eat them - you can buy the meat over on Washington Street in East Baltimore, although I never have done this and probably never will.
oh and yeah, groundhogs = woodchucks = marmots = whistle pigs.
posted by mygothlaundry at 7:31 AM on June 8, 2010
Response by poster: Squee! That picture is exactly what I saw. Groundhoggery is now confirmed.
Don't go by my weight estimate. It could easily have been bigger than the 5-6 pound estimate I gave. When I first saw the critters from about a block away, I thought they were cats. So, yeah, the weight could range up to maybe 10 pounds.
I could have done without the edible groundhog reportage. Those things are just too damn kyoot to be food.
posted by ereshkigal45 at 12:32 PM on June 8, 2010
Don't go by my weight estimate. It could easily have been bigger than the 5-6 pound estimate I gave. When I first saw the critters from about a block away, I thought they were cats. So, yeah, the weight could range up to maybe 10 pounds.
I could have done without the edible groundhog reportage. Those things are just too damn kyoot to be food.
posted by ereshkigal45 at 12:32 PM on June 8, 2010
Heh, 40lbs of readily available high-fat protein in Appalachia? I mean hell, we eat squirrels in here, and that's like 6oz of meat each. 40lbs is like...well, hell, that's a lot of food!
That said, I have never eaten groundhog. I would---just haven't. I do have a bunch of snares on a nail in the basement, though...
(They're pest animals really. Like prairie dogs, they dig holes that hobble livestock and they can seriously compromise the structural integrity of a building. My dog though, he takes special delight in...playing with them.)
posted by TomMelee at 12:35 PM on June 8, 2010
That said, I have never eaten groundhog. I would---just haven't. I do have a bunch of snares on a nail in the basement, though...
(They're pest animals really. Like prairie dogs, they dig holes that hobble livestock and they can seriously compromise the structural integrity of a building. My dog though, he takes special delight in...playing with them.)
posted by TomMelee at 12:35 PM on June 8, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
(Hey, they're also called "whistle-pigs"!)
posted by JoanArkham at 6:46 PM on June 7, 2010