Can anyone help identify a weird mammal?

Our backyard is like a mini jungle, we have all kinds of wildlife that hang out here because we back to long grass, trees, and a creek. Until now, I could identify of the different critters, but today I saw a strange creature and for the life of me have no idea what it could be!

I wish I had my camera handy, but he moved quickly and was hiding in the brush. It was roughly the size of a medium dog, like a beagle, with a longer and sleeker (less muscular) build. It looked mostly like a fox, except that it had longer legs than a fox, and his tail was not bushy, but matted down, like a beagle's tail, only skinnier, and it did not stick up in the air, but pointed down to the ground. his body was brown, not grey or red, like the foxes i've seen, and he had some type of markings on his back (possible mild stripes) but i did not get a good enough look to tell for sure. His legs had black fur from ankle to above the "knee." The snout from what I could tell was not as elongated as a fox, but not too short either, almost a cross between a cat and fox looking face. He curled up on a log under one of our trees, like a cat would, and then ran for shelter from the rain and shook himself dry (like a dog). Any ideas what in the world this could be? I'm certain it was neither a cat or dog species (unless it's some mutant cross breed, in which case, I call it the foxogacat)!

 

ferret? Ground hog? raccoon?

Good luck!

 

Was he something like this?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23558147@N00/110129102/

But this guy has his tail little bushy....mostly not...

anyway this picture looked cute, so wanted to share it here...

 

Not a ferret, groundhog, or raccoon. larger, skinny, walks on 4 legs, no opposable thumbs. I know it's not: in the rodent family, a muskrat, beaver, groundhog, possum, or any of those other common woodland buddies you see around.

Pluto: you had me there! but this critter wasn't sporting a neon red mohawk either!

 

Sounds like one of Neilz unclaimed off spring. I alot of things got shook up in his recent move.

 

Perhaps a young coyote.

 

it didn't have a fluffy tail. unless it's sick or has mange, i don't think that's it.

 

some people have bigfoot...you have your very own "Broadlands Four-foot..."

 

i know this can't possiblly be the creature from my backyard (unless it escaped from an animal park or something), but this is pretty close to what it looked like, with the exception of its legs were more skinny (graceful) like a fox, and it had the black fur "legwarmer" markings on all four:

http://www.webace.com.au/~pwest/images/thylacine.jpg

 

Muffin???????

I lost my Himalayan about a year ago....

 

Watch it bub !!!

 

Two interesting threads on the Thylacine species (thought to be extinct):

http://users.aristotle.net/~swarmack/thylacin.html

http://www.dpiw.tas.gov.au/inter/nsf/WebPages/BHAN-53777B?open

(Okay, I'm not saying this is what you saw, but just found this interesting reading.)

 

A Tazmanian Wolf in our area?? Sign me up for that.

Actually, a coyote is a good guess. Or **** Black.

 

Must be a good swimmer to get here from Tasmania.

 

i'm not saying I think it's that animal, it isn't even around anymore and wouldn't be in the US anyhow, it just looks similar in many ways to the animal I saw. More similar than just a fox, a cat, or a dog. That tasmanian thing looks like a foxcatdog! I hope I see it again, this time armed with my camera and telephoto lens! Maybe it's the Chupacabre! AHHHHHHHHH!

 

Groundhog I'd bet
http://www.invisiblestring.com/journal/2005/05/13/groundhog/

 

groundhogs and chunky little guys, we have a family of them here. it's not a groundhog.

 

Maybe the National Zoo in D.C. is missing one of their own...

http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/AsiaTrail/FishingCats/factsheet.cfm

 

Those Fishing Cats are very cool--not to be messed with either. I used to volunteer at the Zoo and got to know the animals pretty well. That cat always struck me as something I'm glad lives on the other side of the world.

My vote is with the coyote theory. More and more, coyotes are learning to live in urban areas. With all the encroahment around here, not to mention the availability of rabbits, mini-dogs, and cats, and a coyote would be hard-pressed to ever want to leave.

 

I saw the same animal in my back yard about one month ago. Whatever it is it looked wild and scared and it looks like a puppy. It could be a pup coyote with mange, perhaps?

The same looking creature was filmed a couple of months ago in Maryland and featured on the local news. Of course I caught the tail end (no pun) of the story. Did anyone see the story?