11 thoughts on “Name That Animal

  1. ANSWER TIME

    This is a tiger quoll. From Wiki:

    The tiger quoll (Dasyurus maculatus), also known as the spotted-tail quoll, the spotted quoll, the spotted-tailed dasyure or (erroneously) the tiger cat, is a carnivorous marsupial of the quoll genus Dasyurus native to Australia.
    […]
    Tiger quolls are generally nocturnal and rest during the day in dens. However, juveniles and females with young in the den can be seen during the day and may leave their dens when it is light out. Quoll dens take the form of underground burrows, caves, rock crevices, tree hollows, hollow logs, or under houses or sheds.

    Everyone check under your sheds!

      1. Yep. Not native to California, but someone introduced them … sometime in the 20th C., I’ve seen conflicting accounts. They’ve made themselves home. We’ve a number in the neighborhood, I don’t know how many. I like them because they’re kinda cute (if not as cute as quolls) and they eat snails. (Our garden snails were introduced too, from France, as food. Mistake.)

      2. I went out one early morning after the giant tree fell in the backyard and there was a juvenile possum which Jade appeared to be PLAYING WITH. I was shocked. The only thing I can guess is that maybe he was playing dead and she was treating him like a toy. Schroeder was watching from the deck. I got the dogs inside and the possum beat it.

      3. I can easily imagine a dog playing with a possum playing dead. Our and the neighbor’s dogs are nonplussed by those here, but then, I suspect sticky buns have more prey drive, and our possums are thoroughly urban. I’ve seen them hiss, but mostly, when met – at least in our yard – they just waddle away, grumbling what I think may be the possum equivalent of ‘damn kids have no respect.’

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