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I encountered an unknown rodent in my house (lemmy.world)
submitted 10 months ago by to c/dull_mens_club@lemmy.world
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I live in a rural area. Sometimes I see mice in my house, but I have three cats and they mostly seem to handle it. Occasionally I have to clear up one the cats addressed before my young kid sees it. No big deal - I knew what I was getting into when I moved here.

However, just now I saw a rodent I couldn't identify. I'm home alone and therefore feel no need for restraint; I yelled "what the fuck are you?" at it. It rudely failed to identify itself, simply running away instead.

Maybe thirty seconds later it appeared at the opposite end of the room. I didn't really know what to do about it so I yelled "hey!"

It ran away again and I haven't seen it since then, but now I'm paranoid. It looked like a small ferret but I don't have one of those anymore and I don't think there are wild ones near here.

I don't want to get rabies or even my toes bitten.

edit: Temporarily ignoring safety concerns, especially those regarding my kid ... The rodent was pretty cute.

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[–] 15 points 10 months ago (8 children)

Possibly a stoat? They are long like a ferret and pretty prevalent.

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  • [–] [S] 4 points 10 months ago (4 children)

    Possibly? I was thinking vole, though I've never seen either a stoat or vole.

    According to a friend of mine, however, voles are tiny. This critter was pretty decent sized - I would estimate 6-8" long.

    From a DDG image search stoats display their legs pretty prominently. Possibly it was because I was viewing them from an upwards angle, but I didn't really notice the legs - they were almost like a furry snake. However, they were also fast so I didn't really get a clear view of them.

    Do stoats tend to go in people's houses?

    Thank you for your theory!

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  • [–] 12 points 10 months ago (1 child)

    Voles are tiny, like field mouse sized, and they're also short and fat. Stoats are long and thin, like a ferret. They're also much larger than voles. If whatever you have is one or the other, it'll be hard to mix up between those two if you can get a good look at it.

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  • [–] 3 points 10 months ago (2 children)

    Some other weasel like a marten, perhaps?

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  • [–] [S] 3 points 10 months ago (1 child)

    According to a search I did last night, while that's not impossible, it probably isn't a marten as they tend to have dark coats. The animal I saw had a pure white coat. In fact, I think it came through my crawlspace, which isn't clean at all; part of why it startled me is because its coat was so clean and bright coming out of a likely at least dusty space.

    From the same search, I suspect the rodent might have been a black tailed ermine. I didn't see the tail, though, so I can't confirm that part.

    Thank you guys for your suggestions!

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    • [–] 7 points 10 months ago* (1 child)

    You have been blessed with a weasel. They eat mice. Make nice little hard turds, and are actually quite curious about people. If you sit still and wait, they'll probably jump up on you and see what you're eating.

    It'll leave after it's eaten every mouse in the house, unless the cats get it. But they might not enjoy the encounter.

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  • [–] [S] 3 points 10 months ago

    Yeah, a conflict with my cats is one of the reasons I was particularly concerned about its presence. I suspect at least one of my cats would win (the other two are pretty old and have never really been hunters, though one of them has always been fascinated by raccoons). However, as you said, likely none of them would come out unscathed.

    The one that might win was sitting on the arm of the recliner I was using, so I'm glad the critter didn't try to jump on me - likely none of the three of us would have had fun then.

    That said, weasel or not, you're right that it did not appear to be afraid of me, unlike the mice I've occasionally seen. It only ran away when I yelled.

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    • [–] 7 points 10 months ago (1 child)

    Regardless of what, specifically, it is, your instincts are right and you should trust them. Just keep yelling "hey!" at it.

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    • [–] 2 points 10 months ago (1 child)

    It ran away so it probably doesn't have rabies (yet)

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    • [–] 1 point 10 months ago (1 child)

    Well now I really want to know. What region are you in?

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