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Original poster

Can you please help me work out what animal I just saw

221 replies

YellowJellyfish · 05/02/2020 00:19

In the UK driving down the narrow country roads when this animal ran/waddled across the road.

It was bigger than a cat, smaller than a badger, slower than a fox.

It kind of waddled, was quite round and had no tail.

I really can't think what kind of mammal it was.

Any ideas?

OP posts:

Thread gallery

AlCalavicci · 05/02/2020 19:07

Ah bugger I have been beaten to it o was going to say a escaped haggis too

CatkinToadflax · 05/02/2020 18:39

Whoever the fuck that friendly grinning fellow is, twirlypoo, I don’t think it can be him as the OP said no smile. I’d be happy to have him living in a burrow in my garden though, assuming he’s the sort of chap who lives in a burrow. 🤔

dustibooks · 05/02/2020 17:50

Are there any wildlife parks near where you are OP?

I reckon either a juvenile capybara or an agouti.

VivaLeBeaver · 05/02/2020 17:38

To the people talking about wallabies I've seen them in the Peak district.

About 35 years ago saw a whole herd of them on Axe Edge moor. Watched them for about ten mins. Must have been nearly 30 of them.

Then rumour was they'd gone extinct but after the extinction reports I saw a solitary one at The Roaches. That would have been about 1999.

I don't know of any sightings since then. So probably not about anymore.

VivaLeBeaver · 05/02/2020 17:35

Moorhen?

They scuttle about.

iklboo · 05/02/2020 17:30

Wombat? Used in Australia for playing the little known game of Wom.

ShesGotBetteDavisEyes · 05/02/2020 17:19

Thanks for this thread - I now have this as my new phone screensaver which has cheered me up no end!

Can you please help me work out what animal I just saw

FrangipaniBlue · 05/02/2020 17:16

It was a Billy Bumbler.

PotholeParadise · 05/02/2020 16:56

Ooh, got it! Wild Alot!

hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/04/alot-is-better-than-you-at-everything.html?m=1

PotholeParadise · 05/02/2020 16:53

Either an otter or a capercaillie.

Kalim8 · 05/02/2020 16:46

Maybe it was a chupacabra on holiday, wearing a coat to keep warm, on it's way to send a "wish you were here" postcard?

Papergirl1968 · 05/02/2020 16:22

There are animals being mentioned on here that I’ve never heard of!
There was an owl in the news the other day that was too fat to fly and had to be dieted before it could be released back into the wild.
That would waddle, I guess.
Have I missed which part of the country this was in?

Winesalot · 05/02/2020 12:43

Thanks Coldhandcoldheart. And interesting history, particularly about the endangering the Capercaillie population.

Coldhandscoldheart · 05/02/2020 12:29

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inchconnachan

Winesalot · 05/02/2020 12:27

Oh no! I find that really sad Twenty2. However, having hit a few wallabies in my life , they certainly don’t waddle anywhere.

I think I want to go to the Peak District to see them, now.

Twenty2 · 05/02/2020 12:11

There are colonies of wallabies living wild in the UK. I think there's some in the Peak District?

Not that I'm saying that's what the OP saw. I think it was an alien. Did you see any strange lights in the sky just before spotting the beast OP?

BohoBunney · 05/02/2020 12:03

Ok, this thread is brilliant for all kinds of reasons.
The diagrams.
The haggis.

But mainly for the fact that I am obsessed with capybara and had no idea they are potentially roaming the uk in the wild... so I now have a new hobby. Capybara spotting!

BlackAmericanoNoSugar · 05/02/2020 11:49

Could it have been a mara? A bit like a small, less stocky capybara. I'm not sure what one would be doing in your part of the world, but I suppose it's no more unlikely than a capybara or coypu.

tabulahrasa · 05/02/2020 11:43

You get ginger badgers...

BiarritzCrackers · 05/02/2020 11:41

Did it have hair? Might be an escaped gerund.

Daria32 · 05/02/2020 11:30

Was it a weasel?

TwoHeadedYellowBelliedHoleDig · 05/02/2020 10:59

I would have said maybe a pine marten but they have tails

But what noise does a pine marten make?

AHintOfStyle · 05/02/2020 10:48

I would have said maybe a pine marten but they have tails.

ShesGotBetteDavisEyes · 05/02/2020 10:48

Aaaaaaw!
As you can see even baby badgers have that distinctive stripy head so pretty identifiable. I SO want it to be twirlywoos suggestion though - I’d be interested to know what animal that actually is!

Papergirl1968 · 05/02/2020 10:40

Re badgers, all the ones I see are dead on the side of the road, and most of them are brown rather than black. So I’m guessing they’re young badgers, yet to learn any road sense?
From this less than scientific research, I put forward the theory that badgers start off brown and turn to black when they mature into adults.

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