What did I see ?

Joe10000

Hi, I don't know if anyone can help but I was driving close to Westport this morning at 5:30am and there was an animal on the road that made me slam on the brakes. I have never seen one before and it scurried off the road to safety.

It was the size of a large cat but there was no resemblance. To describe it is difficult but it seemed to be all body with a small head and snout. I have searched a lot of wildlife sites this morning and cannot see anything close.

It was very clear in my headlights so I got a good look and it was an ugly looking thing.

Any ideas ??

Thanks.

Mothman

Any idea of colour.
What did you see of its tail, length and colour

the_syco

An armadillo?

E39MSport

stoat ? (not the size of a large cat though)


Pine Marten ? (larger than a domestic cat and not often seen)

Mothman

the_syco wrote: »

An armadillo?

in Westport Co. Mayo?

Serious suggestions please!

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Sounds like an Otter.

Joe10000

Definitely wasn't a stoat, pine marten or otter.

Colour was brown with no tail of note, to be honest of all the above the armadillo would be the closest in terms of shape.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Ok, Ireland has very few land Mammals so we don't have too many to choose from. We'll ignore deer, goats etc as too large and mice, hedgehog, shrews etc as too small.
You say it's not mink, stoat, pine martin, or otter. Colour is wrong for a badger and you'd know a fox, rabbit or hare surely. Not much left that it could be - and it's definately not an armidillo or any other exotic. A mangy dog perhaps?

Not much else it could have been.

littlebug

I would hazard a guess that at 5.30am, in the dark, things are sometimes not how they seem....;)

My only guess is that it was a mink or pine marten, but in a huddled up position i.e. head low and back arched rather than the stretched out position you might see in most photos, a bit like the one illustrated here. Again in the dark the tail may just not have been visible.
I'm tending to think Mink but I'm aware that's probably just because I'm associating the word ugly= bad = mink. I don't think they're ugly at all.

I don't know that there's much else it can be

cuddlycavies

Thought Mink straight away

cameramonkey

I have heard that there are munkjack dear in ireland. maybe it was one of them. because of its size and shape it can be very difficult to believe that it is a deer.

http://www.harrowtimes.co.uk/news/8128787.Muntjac_deer_spotted_in_Harrow_gardens/

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/25112294

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Size matters here. Munkjack are much bigger than a "large cat" and usually confined to the South West. A Mink would equate to a very small Cat.

cameramonkey

Jude Orange Poodle wrote: »

Size matters here. Munkjack are much bigger than a "large cat" and usually confined to the South West. A Mink would equate to a very small Cat.

have seen very small munjack in England, bigger than a cat but small none the less. First time i saw one I had no idea what it was. I suppose if there are none in the west then we have to rule them out.

V_Moth

Well, this is a tricky one. Ireland doesn't have a great diversity of (land) mammals, excluding bats, so the obvious choices would be Otter, Stoat or Mink. The fact that it was dark would have affected the appearance of the animal - possibly making it look more distorted.

If it definitely wasn't one of those, I would suggest Muskrat - a non-native rodent that is (unfortunately) quite common in central Europe and would fit the description. I hope it wasn't as these things could do some damage to our wetlands!

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

V_Moth wrote: »

I would suggest Muskrat !

Sweet Lord! No. It was not a Muskrat.

The OP saw a mammal in the dark when things can often be confusing or distorted,(headlights can often reduce definition and an empty road leaves size difficult to determine) so please let's not lose the run of ourselves.

V_Moth

Jude Orange Poodle wrote: »

Sweet Lord! No. It was not a Muskrat.

The OP saw a mammal in the dark when things can often be confusing or distorted,(headlights can often reduce definition and an empty road leaves size difficult to determine) so please let's not lose the run of ourselves.

Ok. I should have phrased that better: highly unlikely to be seen in Ireland, but general description seems to fit for Muskrat. Does it look similar to this OP? :pac:

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

No offence, but why the red herring? A Muskrat (NOT found in Ireland) is only 1.5kg while an average Cat is 5kg (and OP said a large Cat). A Juvenile Coypu would fit the description better but I sure as heck won't suggest that either.

LostCovey

Jude Orange Poodle wrote: »

No offence, but why the red herring? A Muskrat (NOT found in Ireland) is only 1.5kg while an average Cat is 5kg (and OP said a large Cat). A Juvenile Coypu would fit the description better but I sure as heck won't suggest that either.

Jude Orange Poodle,

You might be right, but Coypu was the first thing I thought of.

We live in a country where people kept all manner of zany exotic "pets" in the boom.

Westport House had a small zoo attached some years back - has that closed?

I do think the OP saw something exotic - just a hunch, I could be totally wrong.

LC

LostCovey

Joe10000 wrote: »

Hi, I don't know if anyone can help but I was driving close to Westport this morning at 5:30am and there was an animal on the road that made me slam on the brakes. I have never seen one before and it scurried off the road to safety.

It was the size of a large cat but there was no resemblance. To describe it is difficult but it seemed to be all body with a small head and snout. I have searched a lot of wildlife sites this morning and cannot see anything close.

It was very clear in my headlights so I got a good look and it was an ugly looking thing.

Any ideas ??

Thanks.

On what road - coastal/inland?

Have you seen photos of Coypu - not known in Ireland but widespread in France, and I think parts of England.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coypu

LC

littlebug

LostCovey wrote: »

Westport House had a small zoo attached some years back - has that closed?

Closed a few few years ago though there are still some ducks and geese. I don't recall there being anything coypu like there.
I think whatever the OP saw...we'll never know!

trebor28

may i suggest Occams Razor!

kylith

Could it have been a cat with no tail?

Joe10000

Ok guys loads there and I will try to clarify a few things.

Yes it was early and I wasn't long up but as I got into the car I nearly stepped on a hedgehog and a cat nearby nearly scared the bejaysus out of me so I was alert enough.

The road I was on is inland but the area very wet and boggy, we are about 2 miles from the sea as the crow flies an a little less from a major river.

I drive a jeep and had the spots on so the road was well lit up. I have never seen anything like this creature and when I saw it it sent a shiver down me spine. I am not the best with animals
but the only one that ever sent a shiver like that was once when I came face to face with a rat and this yoke had that appearance but without a tail of note.

Now it may have had a tail but it didn't catch my eye as the body was such an unusual shape I couldn't take my eyes off it.

In terms of size I would revise my comments slightly in that the body of this thing was the size of a large cat but it had short legs.

I don't know whether that makes this any better or worse but the picture in my head is still pretty clear, 'twas an odd looking yoke.

Thanks for all your input and hope we find it !!

Joe10000

I just checked a few of the suggestions again and the coypu looks very like what I saw.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Joe10000 wrote: »

I just checked a few of the suggestions again and the coypu looks very like what I saw.

Coypu was a joke. It certainly was not one!!! I'd put the farm on it being an Otter.

Joe10000

Didn't say it was one but of all the things suggested it is the closest, definitely not an otter, this guy was fat and hairy.

LostCovey

Jude Orange Poodle wrote: »

Coypu was a joke. It certainly was not one!!!

That was precisely what the French experts would have said the first time a Coypu was reported there.

They might have preceded it with 'Mon Dieu!' but that wouldn't be Jude Orange Poodle's style.

LC

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

LostCovey wrote: »

That was precisely what the French experts would have said the first time a Coypu was reported there.

Hardly! The Coypu (or Ragodin, as the French call them) were farmed for fur in France and their arrival in the wild was no less extraordinary than Mink in Ireland, due to escapees and releases. Not a sound comparison at all.

Rainbowsend

What about a mole? Not sure what size they grow to.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Moles are tiny and we don't have them here (unlikely to have one moving about over ground either).

LostCovey

Rainbowsend wrote: »

What about a mole? Not sure what size they grow to.

They would be as exotic as a Coypu - there are no moles in Ireland, and in countries where they occur they are very rarely seen above ground.

LC

Joe10000

So we are no closer, early start again tomorrow so the eyes will be peeled.

LostCovey

Joe10000 wrote: »

So we are no closer, early start again tomorrow so the eyes will be peeled.

Where around West port was it?

LC

littlebug

Joe10000 wrote: »

So we are no closer, early start again tomorrow so the eyes will be peeled.

and the camera ready
I'm intrigued. I'm (almost) tempted to take an early morning drive to Westport myself.

Joe10000

No show this morning. It was on the Glenhest to Newport road, one mile from Newport. I said near to Westport because most people know it.

Kess73

Well if the otter suggestion is being ruled out, and the size was indeed that of a large cat or bigger, then it would suggest something non native that escaped from a private collection or zoo.

Going to through a wolverine into the mix (no not James Howlett ). They do exist in the wild in some of the Nordic countries in Europe as well as in the US/Canada, and tagged individuals have been known to cover crazy distances so one that escaped from Northern Ireland etc would have no problems getting to Westport.






Am pretty sure that it was not something exotic and that Srameem's suggestion may be the answer, but my exotic choice is the very large cat/small to medium dog sized wolverine.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Oh Kess I'm surprised at you even raising that suggestion.

I have no doubt (from experience of seeing them on roads at night) that it was an Otter. 100% sure.

LostCovey

Jude Orange Poodle wrote: »

Oh Kess I'm surprised at you even raising that suggestion.

I have no doubt (from experience of seeing them on roads at night) that it was an Otter. 100% sure.

I know that road well, and there's a good salmon run up the river that runs parallel to it, could be an otter.

The other animal that can look very odd and big bodied with its ears flattened back in the headlights is a wet hare. But i am sure the OP is familiar with them.

Maybe the wolverine ate the coypu?

LC

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

LostCovey wrote: »

Maybe the wolverine ate the coypu?

Kess73

Jude Orange Poodle wrote: »

Oh Kess I'm surprised at you even raising that suggestion.

I have no doubt (from experience of seeing them on roads at night) that it was an Otter. 100% sure.

Well I do have three or four more suggestions to use yet The Wolverine was the only one that had some kind of European link though.:D


I'm pretty sure that an otter is the most likely explanation, as it ticks almost every box in terms of location, colour, size, population numbers etc.

Kess73

LostCovey wrote: »

I know that road well, and there's a good salmon run up the river that runs parallel to it, could be an otter.

The other animal that can look very odd and big bodied with its ears flattened back in the headlights is a wet hare. But i am sure the OP is familiar with them.

Maybe the wolverine ate the coypu?

LC

No, the Wolverine killed the Eurasian Lynx that had eaten the coypu.




Hehe had not thought of using the Eurasian Lynx until now.

Joe10000

I have looked at 100s of images of otters since that morning and only one of them maybe thinks it was an otter but maybe it was a particularly ugly fat one without much of a tail.

Anyway in the interests of everyone's sanity I will leave it at that, bar another sighting....

stephen_k

Saw this and thought it might be one of these that had escaped??

Joe10000

Wrong body shape, what I saw was definitely much heavier at the back and it's shape tapered down towards its front. It did not have long legs either.

SleepAtNight

Hardly a racoon? One saw in Cork http://www.irelandswildlife.com/2011/05/county-cork-raccoon-sighting-prompts-invasive-species-alert/

Joe10000

No not a raccoon, this thing was brown with no distinguishing colourings.

Mickeroo

I know that area fairly well too, I would have thought an otter would be the obvious candidate too.

Your original description also made me think of coypo or the even more unlikey capybara.

THe only other option I can think of is a rodent of unusual size, but I don't believe they exist

i'm intrigued though, might have to go for a walk round there soon.

Joe10000

Yeah it still wrecks my head, an otter is the most likely explanation but I just dont think it was , this thing was big, I suppose to put it yet another way the body shape was that of a giant rat but with a much bigger head. When it saw my headlights it just sauntered off, didn't run at speed but it wasn't made for speed. It wasn't exotic nor did it look foreign.

Been driving that road for 5 years at all times of day and night and that was the only time I've seen it.

Joe10000

Looked at images of the coypu again and it is still the closest image of what I saw. I just don't think they get as big as what I saw.

cuddlycavies

Mushroom season throws up allsorts of stuff each year:D

LostCovey

cuddlycavies wrote: »

Mushroom season throws up allsorts of stuff each year:D

If you're throwing up you might be picking the wrong mushrooms