It was small, perhaps 2 inches body and a long tail. Its cheeks were stuffed. It walked around, including up the trunk of this tree a ways, but also sprung on its jumping legs.
From a little googling, the four toes suggest a Merriam's kangaroo rat, but the habitat and range don't seem quite right. Any help?
Like CM, not a rodent expert, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn last night...
My first guess was some sort of Perognathus (pocket mouse) or possibly a Peromyscus (deer mouse-type). Could still be a Neotoma of some sort, though. I wouldn't bet my lunch money on it.
However, I would bet that this individual is not a k-rat.( K-rats are way cuter... )
The four hind toes keeps leading me to dipodomys merriami, but they seem to be a bit south or east of Valley Forge. Maybe he caught a ride in a PCT hiker's backpack (!) or a ranger's truck? Or fires have altered their range, or ...?
I was just at a tracking class today - where I was told "all rodents have four toes in front, 5 toes in back" (in reference to the toes you'll see in the prints - in reality, rabbits have a fifth toe in front that you'll rarely see in the track - but I digress)
But in any case - Feivel here has five toes in the back - you just can't see the small inner fifth toe in your photo. (HikeUp is right!) I still don't know what he is, but I think we can cross off K-rat based on Mike's photo - they have the tassel on their tails, and this one doesn't.
(If rodent toes don't seem exciting enough, I also learned to ID bullfrog poop. 8) )
cougarmagic wrote: I was just at a tracking class today
Where was the class? What a great opportunity.
- where I was told "all rodents have four toes in front, 5 toes in back" (in reference to the toes you'll see in the prints - in reality, rabbits have a fifth toe in front that you'll rarely see in the track - but I digress)
Yes, but rabbits (and pikas and hares) aren't rodents. They are lagomorphs. Could that explain the different front toe count ??
(If rodent toes don't seem exciting enough, I also learned to ID bullfrog poop. 8) )
"Dogs, cats and rabbits * are 4 X 4's - Rodents including squirrels are 4 X 5's - All others are 5 X 5's (*While this animal is usually thought of as having four digits front and back, in reality there is a fifth digit* on the inside of the front foot that will show under some conditions. )"
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