Kangahippomouse?
Posted by: Loren Coleman on July 17th, 2007
No, it’s not a new member of the Flight of the Conchords group, which already include performers with the pseudonyms of the Hiphopopotamus and the Rhymenoceros. No, the Kangahippomouse is the thing above.
Mark Frauenfelder has blogged an entry entitled “Mystery creature photographed in Seattle — a kangahippomouse?” over at Boing Boing.
A reader at BB recently sent in a photograph (above) of this whatever: “Just outside of Seattle, WA my roommate Ed recently took a photo of this . . . thing.”
Mark is looking for help in identifying it.
My first thoughts ran to that of the naked mole rat (Heterocephalus glaber), also called the desert mole rat or the sand puppy, but they are only found in East Africa, naturally. Naked mole-rats live in underground dwellings in Ethiopia, Somalia, and Kenya. Why worry about al Qaeda, when the naked mole rat may be coming into our country?
Could our own military have brought back some and then one escaped in the Seattle area? Humm?
I don’t know, it might be one from their routine colonies of 100-300 members. But the naked mole rat’s ears look a little flat or shorter, in comparison to the Boing Boing Mystery Animal’s ears.
How about a wombat with mange? Why not, you might say, even though Australia is a long way?
Nope, they are not a good match. (Poor critter looked in pain.) But I like the sound of the name “wombat,” so it was worth a pull out of the hat.
Naked mouse, a rodent with mange, a naked mole rat, a black squirrel waiting for its Bigfoot costume to be fitted, an otter out of line and without hair - what is it? Think about it. Iraq is having trouble with those nasty honey badgers or ratals. Why shouldn’t Seattle be invaded by naked rats?
But seriously, any ideas what this strange animal is?
The naked mole rat seems a natural, doesn’t it? Take a peek at the two again:
Random Posts
- Similar Phenomena:
I suspect you’re right, Loren. A very wide naked mole rat. Unless, of course, it’s one of those remarkably realistic sculptures that crop up occasionally.
Its a nutria, a little baby one. already doing what they do best
Its a Nutria, a little baby one. Doing what they do best.
I see where it could be mistaken for a Naked Mole Rat.
But it seems to have clumps of hair.
Chipmunk? It looks a bit chubby to be one of those.
My initial layman’s reaction is that it is likely a mundane rodent of some sort that is in very bad health. Possibly a thyroid/endocrine problem of some sort, or cancer?
Besides being hairless, it seems somewhat bloated to say the least.
Whatever it is this thing looks real!
Hahahahaha, I was listening to the Flight of the Conchords just before I entered the blog. It does seem to have tufts of hair stuck to it, so it would seem it naturally has hair unlike naked mole rats.
This looks to me like a hairless rat, the kind that people keep as pets. They aren’t in bad health, this is just what the breed looks like. Their skin really does ripple up like that… Here’s one of my own: a half-hairless rat.
So i wouldn’t be surprised if the animal in the picture is just a hairless variety of a common rodent… or an escaped pet.
from what I can tell about the picture, it looks like a mountain beaver with a very bad case of mange.
Being Australian, and having had friends who raised one, my first thought was baby wombat, not mangy. Though why one would be in Seattle I don’t know. Looks way too short to be a naked mole rat to me.
See this picture for comparison:
http://bottleofblog.typepad.com/bottleofblog/images/wombat.jpeg
Perhaps an overweight hamster with mange, I note the feet are rodent like so it must be a member of the rodent family.
It appears to me to simply be a squirrel of some sort. Just look at the posture. Obviously the animal is in very poor health, likely with a severe case of mange, but everything from the feet, to the ears, to the way it’s sitting screams squirrel to me.
It appears to me to simply be a squirrel of some sort. Just look at the posture. Obviously, the animal is in very poor health, likely with a severe case of mange, but everything from the feet, to the ears, to the way it’s sitting screams squirrel to me.
Indeed, it is a mystery animal. It has the head of a hippopotamus. Its body looks hamster-like. Three ugly warts dot its pale skin. The cameraman got close for the shot. Couldn’t he have jarred it? Maybe it’s an overweight kangaroo gerbil with mange.
I don’t think it’s a naked mole rat, it doesn’t seem to have a tail for one. Also it looks like that it had hair, it’s just moulting.
I’m pretty sure it’s a hairless guinea pig, actually…
That is a hairless guinea pig. It’s quite a common research animal used for dermatology testing, irritation etc.
Here are some pictures of hairless guinea pigs:
http://cavy.org/skinnypig/index.htm
I like the hairless guinea pig idea. It does seem to have black tufts of fur on the back, so mange or some other skin condition is a possibility. It is definitey a rodent of some type. All I know for sure is that thing is ugly.
the ears are too small for a hairless guinea pig..and the eyes are those of a below ground creature, not an above ground creature.
and if you look at the back feet, they are long and clawed like a digger.
I believe that it is a Hairless Rat
Source:
See Hairless Rats Here
I would agree that it is a guinea pig and possibly a sick one at that. Most likely got loose or was abandoned.
It could also be a baby rodent of some sort that doesn’t have hair yet although I doubt that angle.
it isn’t a hairless guinea pig, guinea pigs can’t sit like this animal is sitting. It is a mountain beaver which is native to the Pacific Northwest that has mange
I’d say this is a mountain beaver with mange or some other skin disease, as well. Take a look at this picture: http://www.siskiyous.edu/shasta/map/mp/limb.jpg The ears and feet look the same as the picture posted in this blog, and the two creatures are even sitting in similar positions.
possibly a hybrid between two creatures?
That appears to be a hairless domestic rat engaged in typical grooming behavior (washing it’s face). The blades of grass in the picture reveal the size of the animal.
Some rats are actually born with hair and then lose it; that apppears to be happening to this animal. There are also hairless AND tailless rats available through breeders, so the lack of a tail in the animal in the photo doesn’t bother me.
I own a hairless pet rat (rats make excellent pets) and the first thing I thought when I saw the picture was ‘Why on Earth does Loren have a picture of a hairless rat on his webpage?’
Looks a lot like a baby rat I saw in the wild a few years ago. I suppose it could have been a baby muskrat.
From the plants around it, I doubt that it is a beaver, size-wise.
Every time I look at the pic, my eyes go to the head. I’m not an animal expert or whatever, but I’ve never seen a rat, mouse, hamster, guinea pig or beaver with that shape of head.
I was just looking on Youtube for Chupacabra stuff, and this little video about a hairless rat-looking thing was one of the choices. I clicked on it, and this video about is came up. After the head, that was my second thought.
Looks like the world is going to be taken over by hairless rodents.
Hairless guinea pig pictures, via Google…
http://www.rabbitandcavydirectory.com/Images-BG-R-Z/spmhpcbeauty3-08.jpg
http://moblog.co.uk/blogs/1169/thumbs/moblog_a9e62c06d766d.jpg
Wikipedia says:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skinny_pig
That is most certainly a hairless rat. The ears and hind feet as well as its grooming position all say it for me. Hairless rats are actually bred by some people and there are whole websites devoted to their care and maintenance.(actually a few too many if you ask me, just Google “hairless rats” and see what I mean.) Just look at some of these pics and tell me if there isn’t a slight resemblance.
http://www.80stoysale.com/hairlesspics.html
We raise American Hairless Terriers and they are born with hair that does come out later.. I also think that is what is going on here.
A young hairless RAT!!
Hmmmmmmmmm…. Very Interesting.
Loren, you could be right. I don’t think it’s to far fetched to think this thing could of hitched a ride back with some of our Troops.
I agree with Mothmanfan. And I am no expert either. But the head is really weird. It looks like a tiny hippo head to me. And if that is a Beaver it has to be the smallest Beaver I have seen or a new born. I’m pretty sure it is not a Beaver.
unless, of course, the picture taker did the shaving just to see people like us go on for days trying to figure this out. Being in Washington, Seattle to be exact, I will say this: anything is possible. That city is a hodgepodge of almost every culture and I have known plenty of people, immigrants to be exact, who snuck in items and animals from their home country, of course that was before the 9/11 attacks.
The angle of the head is deceiving. It is slightly pointed away, which makes it look blunter than it is. The feet are a dead giveaway for a rat and that is a classic rat grooming position, not to mention that hairless rats often have tufts of hair like this. The ears are also very much like those of a rat and the size can be ascertained by the plants around it. There are hairless rats that look exactly like this one and if you haven’t seen one before, you might be inclined to think it is some mysterious animal when it isn’t. Hairless rats, as some have already said, are bred and sold as pets and are not extremely rare. This is most certainly a hairless rat.
For those of you saying that it doesn’t look like a beaver, please Google ‘mountain beaver.’ They’re not true beavers, and are dead ringers for the animal depicted here–plus, they’re native to the Northwest.
Hairless Domestic Rat.
It looks lie the fattest naked mole rat in the world.
squirrel
It very well could be a hairless rat. I can see this as being a hairless rat. I guess the photo angle or what ever could make the head look abnormal. I seen a few on Yahoo Images. The photo above is pretty close to what I see.
I think it’s a hairless pigmalope.
Jason P.:
Mountain Beaver
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ws/nwrc/gfx/Mountain%20beaver1_wr.jpg
Does look like it. Is there a hairless type?
Definitely not a naked mole rat, imo. Doesn’t look anything like one to me.
And while I can understand the comparisons to a domestic hairless rat, the body itself seems too short for one, and the snout- even when considering the angle of the pic- is still too thick & blunt IMO.
I’ve had rats (not hairless ones though) and I don’t remember them looking so round and blobby when sitting & grooming. They had more length between their front and back legs.
I think that the shape of the head seems more squirrelish than rattish.
Whatever it is, doesn’t look to healthy to me.
I grew up in Western Washington…Mountain Beaver with mange
is that thing alive or dead?!
After having seen several pictures of hairless rodents in Google I lean towards the Mountain Beaver with mange theory. Since the picture was taken from so close we must suspect a prank motive because given the animal’s body shape it shouldn’t have been difficult for the photographer to have trapped it using a jar or something. Hew.
dstageberg responds:
July 17th, 2007 at 5:59 pm
I grew up in Western Washington…Mountain Beaver with mange
Well I live in Western Washington, have all my life… 43 years… And that is no Beaver…
DARHOP - As I mentioned earlier, please look at a picture of a ‘mountain beaver.” They are not the same thing as the ‘normal’ beaver we typically think of. They’re much more rat-like in appearance, and are also much smaller than beavers.
To those saying that the pic is a hoax b/c the person should have jarred the animal…. how many average people actually think to do that. When i take closeup shots of cool bugs and stuff I never stop to think “hmmm let me whip out a handy jar/box/cage that I happen to keep on me at all times in case its a cryptid”.
No, I do not carry around a jar or anything and I doubt most people do. And typical people that take pics of animals don’t normally think of ‘collecting the specimen’ either.
So, IMO, the fact that the photographer wasn’t prepared with an enclosure to trap the animal doesn’t mean it’s a hoax.
The pic is more than likely real. It’s a bald rodent. It happens. Just like all the ‘chupacabras’ are always dogs or foxes with mange…. rodents get reasons for baldness as well.
It’s a grunge gothrat. Seattle’s full of ‘em. This one doesn’t have tattoos or piercings, though, so I can understand the confusion.
Otter, gotta be an Otter, yea that’s it, an Otter.
I’d never heard of a mountain beaver before but after looking at pictures of them, I change my vote from squirrel to mountain beaver. The ears and short torso are clearly a match, where some of the other candidates didn’t match either, the squirrel at least matched the ears and general head shape, but the short torso and apparent taillessness didn’t…Mountain Beaver it is… With Mange or something.
Hairless otter….
The hind feet look like those of a squirrel.
Hmmm…..okay, so I Googled “mountain beaver” in images, and what do you know….the feet also look like those of a mountain beaver.
It’s definitely NOT a rat. I have had pet rats for years, their bodies and faces are sleek and pointed, this thing is chubby and rounded. It’s not supposed to BE hairless, the clumps of hair still on it suggest to me a diseased animal that SHOULD have hair.
Hi everyone. If you look very closely this animal is eating at the base of a dandilion plant. It has to be very small, no bigger than three to five inches in length. It also has all the features of a hampster, but none of the fur. Also if you use the magnification tool on your desktop, you will see very black fur, which rules out beaver or otter on both counts, on the patches that are still on its back. The paws and feet are exactly the same, as well as the ears and as well as the little stub of a tail you can see at the hind end of the animal. I would say this is a young hampster of some kind with mange that has escaped someone. If you have ever had hampsters like I have you would know just how easily they do that too. Good luck everyone.
Definitely a hairless domestic rat. I owned pet rats for years and I’ll give you several reasons why this has got to be a rat:
1.) Other than it being at a weird angle and standing a little more hunched than normal it LOOKS just like a rat.
2.) The feet, the little hands, everything is just like on a pet rat
3.) It’s size, it does look a little larger than a typical pet rat, but that’s not abnormal in itself. I had a friend with some tail-less rats that grew to about 3lbs each, they were monstrous, he fed them dog food.
4.) The head shape is a little off from a typical rattus norvegicus, but is perfectly in line with a “dumbo” rat (see link below). “Dumbo” rats have a genetic variation that causes them to have more prominent skulls with ears more on the sides of their heads than on top like normal rats. Rats that are “dumbo” are also typically considered so calm that they’re almost described as “comatose”, so that would also explain why this thing let the photographer get so close.
Even though I’m convinced it’s just a pet rat I am still intrigued. Somehow this rat ended up being a hairless, possibly tailless, dumbo rat. Three genetic variations that you don’t usually see. So it’s still an amazing creature.
Dumbo Rats http://www.chaoticworks.com/datenshi/
From its body shape and its short tail, I think it is a marmot with mange.
Darkshines- You’ve obviously never seen a fat rat. I used to have snakes and they ate rats, and some of these rats were very pudgy and rounded precisely as this one is. We have rats running around here in Tokyo that are every bit this fat. Look towards the bottom of the list of photos I posted a link to above and you will see clear examples of hairless rats this fat as well as clear examples of hairless rats with tufts of fur like this.
I do not believe it has mange. Look at the example of the wombat. Look at how nasty the skin looks. It’s flaky, dry, cracked..just NASTY as mange is. We are breeder dogs and mange dose not leave a critter with smooth supple skin like our subject has.
It is all genetics as to why it is hairless.
I believe most of us think it is a rodent though. Many of the rodents look so much alike it’s just hard to tell which rodent it is. Hard to get a grip on it’s size and at that angel it’s hard to tell about the muzzle…for me anyway it is.
Jason P.
Thanks for the info. I stand corrected. This very well could be a Mt. Beaver. The only thing is I didn’t see any hairless ones when I went to Images. Are their hairless ones. And just so every one knows as I’m sure you all do. Mange isn’t the only thing that will make an animal lose its hair. I have 5 English Bulldogs and 2 of them are losing their hair. The vet isn’t sure what it is. But he says it definitely isn’t mange. He thinks it might be (I’m sure I’m gonna spell this wrong but) he thinks it might be alopicia. He said it also might be just their diet. I think it’s alopicia. Cuz none of my other Bullies are losing there hair. Anyway, I’m still up in the air on this one.
It’s a Nutria and it’s been on the local news in Seattle several times. Nutrias are in the beaver family and are indigenous to Asia. They are causing a lot of problems with the wetlands around here and no natural predators to control the population.
Darhop: You are correct. Alopecia can occur in many dogs, perhaps in rodents too. You may be on to something.
It’s not a nutria. Nutria have long, skinny tails, slightly webbed feet, and completely different ears.
Aurorasunlight is right. Unless they’ve imported dandelions the size of shrubs to Seattle since I lived there, this is a small animal. Much too small for a nutria, a marmot, and maybe even a rat. That leaves a bunch of other tiny mammals that would be native to the area, like voles, moles, and other field rodents. Just imagine them naked, and take your pick.
Rats exhibit quite a range of morphology, including size. Here is a pic of a pet hairless hamster. It’s overall size would be more in line with the individual in the pic featured in this story, compared with a mountain beaver or nutria, or even guinea pig. It might also be a candidate:
http://starkimages.homestead.com/files/hatshepsut.jpg
This is a Pocket Hippo, AKA a Baldwin hairless guinea pig or Skinny pig. If you go to this link you will see several pictures of different animals which several look like the one in the picture. In person the all grey ones look like miniature baby hippos. Through me for a loop when I first saw one.
http://cavyconcepts.com/our_herd.html
Munnin..?
Rats exhibit quite a range of morphology, including size. Here is a pic of a pet hairless hamster. It’s overall size would be more in line with the individual in the pic featured in this story, compared with a mountain beaver or nutria, or even guinea pig. It might also be a candidate:
Are you sure that isn’t a hairless rat…? It has a long tail… Hamster’s have short tails… I have never seen a hamster with a long tail…
This looks like a raccoon baby. I raised 3 of them & that’s pretty much what they look like when they are soooo young. Maybe only a few days old.
It is definitely a baby nutria except that they are usually born fully furred. However is may be a genetic mutation or most likely someone shaved the poor thing. It definitely has all the anatomical features of a Nutria. If you don’t agree look at the back foot that is visible and the shape of the head then google a picture of a Nutria. It’s a match.
It’s a squirrel. Just look at the ears. Very very sick squirrel. It’s front paws are way to big in ratio to it’s body to be a rat. Given that squirrels have large populations where the photo it just makes sense. It’s posture, head shape, ears, feet and hands all point squirrel. I’d also think certain marmots or chipmunks might also fit the bill….but doubtful.
There is another photo available from which this photo was cropped. It shows just how tiny this creature is compared with dandelions and other vegetation. I found it at the Fortean Times web site.
Sarcoptic mange does not usually leave the skin crusted and thickened like demodectic mange does. The animal in this photo is not hairless all over; tufts of hair are plainly visible, in areas where it would be difficult for the animal to reach to scratch. This little guy’s tail doesn’t look long enough to be a nutria, but I suppose it could be one. It still looks like a marmot to me, but nutrias look a lot like marmots too :). Whatever it is, it certainly appears to have a bad case of sarcoptic mange.
DARHOP: All I can say is “Doh!” I pasted the incorrect link before. Those are indeed hairless guinea pigs, and as you can see the size of the ears in relation to the rest of the head seems larger in most of these, compared to the subject of this discussion. Here is (really) a page with a couple of pictures of a hairless hamster - note the stubby tail apparent in the second pic- which to me it looks more like our kangahippomouse than some of the other possible suspects.
http://exoticpets.about.com/library/photogallery/blph_hamster28.htm
RAT - it was, as DARHOP pointed out, a link to a hairless rat photo that I offered before, and NOT guinea pigs or hairless hamsters. Sheesh. I should be doing this earlier in the day when I still have some semblance of focus, LOL. I still vote hairless hamster.
It’s gotta be a hairless squirrel-tt’s far too smooth for a mole-rat and those feet are a dead giveaway.
Munnin… Kool, thanks for the link… I thought that first one looked like a rat…
Hmm… I must be a real bone head… Cuz went I try to copy and paste a link to this site I can’t do it… Wonder what I am doing wrong…
You’re all wrong.
My littel girl says it’s Uniqua from the “Backyardigans.”
I think it’s a hybrid of a beaver and a rat
Ok, can’t be a beaver or squirrel, the tail doesn’t fit. Even an alopeciac beaver would still have a big flat bald tail, and a squirrel a long skinny bald one.
I’d say baby nutria. The anatomy fits and the fact it’s *there* and didn’t scamper away from somebody taking a picture of it may indicate it’s young.
Or sick with mange. Either way it’s pretty gnarly lookin’.
Mangy wombat
I am certain this is a mountain beaver. A mountain beaver actually is not a beaver at all, which is why so many people here are confused saying it is too small to be a beaver. The so-called mountain beaver is actually the worlds oldest living rodent and is only indigenous to the Pacific Northwest. Its scientific name is Aplodontia Rufa
http://www.infowright.com/mtbeaver/
it looks like someone shaved its hair and took a photo of it to fool people, and apparently did a good job of it too.