What is This

mobby

Any ideas what sort of animal this might be. it was spotted in the back garden yesterday by the wife, who thought it was a rat. But it looks to big.
Have not seen it since. garden backs out onto a forest.

Any Ideas?

sorry for the poor quality picture.

stoneill

Hard to see, could be a pine marten.

gerrybbadd

I wouldn't think a rat, looks far too big, and the head profile looks more cat like. Squared rather than pointy like a rat would be

Alun

Not easy to say given the quality of the photo, but my first thoughts were a cat too given the head shape. A marten would be more pointed, no?

mobby

another view, I think it maybe a very large rat.:eek:

auspicious

You could try and capture it. But you may need something like this.

JustAThought

where are you living? Ireland?
its not a rat as it has the entire wrong body shape. I might have said racoon from the first picture - did it have a stripey tail ? But I don’t think we have them wild in Ireland unless it escaped from a private owner - they are/were for sale in some exotic petshops. I would also say pine martin if it wasnt for the tail ( bit maybe thats the photo) which is a rare treat as they are very shy and coming back from almost being extinct in the wild.
Exciting! Try and get another photo!!! Don’t kill it or put down poison It is definately NOt a rat.

JustAThought

It is definately not a rat so please don’t put down poison. I’d say pine martin which would tie in with the forest behind you which is exciting as they were almost going extinct in the wild. Rare find!!!

There is a wildlife thread where you can post a picture and people might know what it is - I think it is for birds but those bird people know their wildlife!!

mobby

looking at pictures of a Pine martin it looks to have more white under the neck. maybe a grey squirrel as have seen them in the trees but not for a while. No poison as I have a dog and would not take a chance . I know you can buy traps like this https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cheese-Live-Catch-Indoors-Outdoors-Gardens/dp/B000QVSCH6/ref=sr_1_5?crid=91762AFUOP6P&keywords=rat+traps&qid=1583407119&sprefix=rat+traps%2Caps%2C132&sr=8-5

Doctors room ghost

That’s a grey squirrel.
They’re proper little fcukers and a threat to the native red.brought over to Ireland from America as a wedding present no less.

Doctors room ghost

Also that camera should be shot into space as it’s not worth a sh1te

DaDoRonRonRon

First picture certainly looks very feline but the second one has a very rat like posture. How big are the pots to give us an idea of scale?

mymo

It's definitely not a pine Martin, I see loads around here, wrong shape. It looks like a very large rat, definitely a rodent, where are you based? Are you near a river?

jimf

a well fed rat me thinks

mobby

No sightings since last Tue, dont live near a river but backgarden overlooks a forest and has a few ditches that have water in them with all the rain. Have one of them humane trap/cage ordered, Just Hope its big enough :eek:

mobby

Rat... dont know it its D Rat ... but one less anyway.

Cherry Blossom

Mystery solved. As pest control threads are not permitted here, its time to close this off now.

CB.