This is a nutria. I saw a show on NatGeo about them this week. That was the first I’d heard of them.
Since so many of you guessed muskrat, I looked up the differences between the two. A muskrat is not as large as a nutria (not that you could tell from this single photo of course) and they have a “long, rat-like tail that is flattened vertically”.
A Nutria has several distinct features distinguishing it from the muskrat:
*Muzzle is covered by white coarse hair
*Tail is hairy and round (not compressed from side to side) and pointed at the tip
*Hind legs are much longer than the front legs, giving them a hunched appearance when on land
*Hind feet are webbed
*Large incisors are yellow to orange-red
muskrat
nutra (sp?)
muskrat?
I’m thinking a muskrat too.
Muskrat?
muskrat ramble.. come on and ramble along
Muskrat :-)
Just wanted to drop in an unrelated link for you animal lovers and lovers of teeny things (of which I am both):
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/01/120111-smallest-frogs-vertebrates-new-species-science-animals/
Nutria?
Looks like a drowned rat!
Looks like a nutria to me.
Nutria
Muskrat.
brown and furry and wet? Just kidding
Muskrat
ANSWER TIME
This is a nutria. I saw a show on NatGeo about them this week. That was the first I’d heard of them.
Since so many of you guessed muskrat, I looked up the differences between the two. A muskrat is not as large as a nutria (not that you could tell from this single photo of course) and they have a “long, rat-like tail that is flattened vertically”.
A Nutria has several distinct features distinguishing it from the muskrat:
I hear they taste like chicken…
There used to be a lot of nutria at Atlantic Beach, North Carolina.
I saw one hit along the road once, and I thought it was a giant muskrat.
Nutria means otter in Spanish. They call them coypu in Spanish.
http://www.newbernsj.com/news/nutria-17114-sumner-atlantic.html
I guess they don’t exist in South Carolina.