2:30 am...black creature, entirely dark, not slow...what was that? (Birmingham: dangerous, area)

[33458]

You are all quite the source...;P

Husband suggested it might have been a skunk, though I did not see any contrast in colors - do they come in a monochromatic version? Will Google again.
It was a big as a well-fed cat if not a bit larger, but no where near the size of our raccoons and possums. I first thought - baby whatever-the-heck-those-things-are...that big-_ _ _ rat that lives in Louisiana 'some folk dare consume. Can't think of the name...Nutria. But then again, no.

It was the elusive Monte Sano catkoonrat!

P.S. I am always up at 2:30. I am an insomniac. Peri-menopausal, too.

[michmoldman]

Possibly Richard Simmons?

[financelife]

I would have shot the dang critter coming up on my property like that. Then fed em to the crows. You don't want none them creatures thinking they can just come and go on your land. Maybe put some poison out.

[33458]

No poison...might find the deer and the fox, and I quite like the deer and the fox.

Now if that fox would come around more often, I might see less of this catkoonrat thing. Then again - I've been in the house for a year now, am always up at obscene hours and this is the first time I've seen the...catkoonrat...thing. I'm not worried, just curious. Like to know what I'm looking at.

[Reactionary]

I've seen groundhogs / woodchucks (large dark brown animal) at the Arsenal, but I wouldn't expect to see one in your neighborhood (IIRC they like flatland / wetland - just like skunks). If it was a nutria-looking beastie, though, it may have been a groundhog (maybe dislocated from Harris Hill construction and looking for a new home).

Not enough water in your neighborhood for beaver or otter (but they live around here too).

[NCN]

Until you started talking about how small it was, my first thought was panther. Could it be a baby panther?

[Southlander]

Originally Posted by Reactionary

I've seen groundhogs / woodchucks (large dark brown animal) at the Arsenal, but I wouldn't expect to see one in your neighborhood (IIRC they like flatland / wetland - just like skunks). If it was a nutria-looking beastie, though, it may have been a groundhog (maybe dislocated from Harris Hill construction and looking for a new home).

Not enough water in your neighborhood for beaver or otter (but they live around here too).

I'm thinking it was probably a groundhog/woodchuck. They occasionally trundled through our yard in our old neighborhood, which was probably half a mile from and across a busy highway from the Tennessee River. So you don't have to be right on water. The critters can have a surprisingly large range...specially when they're looking for something to eat.

[33458]

Originally Posted by Reactionary

I've seen groundhogs / woodchucks (large dark brown animal) at the Arsenal, but I wouldn't expect to see one in your neighborhood (IIRC they like flatland / wetland - just like skunks). If it was a nutria-looking beastie, though, it may have been a groundhog (maybe dislocated from Harris Hill construction and looking for a new home).

Not enough water in your neighborhood for beaver or otter (but they live around here too).

True, dat...but there is a small creek just beyond the end of this street, right down from me...well, that's what the map shows, anyway. Might be that canal that runs under Oakwood?

Ground Hog...could be. There's construction up the hill from me in the new McMansionland, so who knows?

Anyway, the creature has not been seen since. I'll keep looking.

[zenjenn]

Until you started talking about how small it was, my first thought was panther. Could it be a baby panther?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure there are no panthers native to Alabama.

[southern by choice]

When we lived on post at Ft Rucker, Al, there were lynx ( small bobcats ) . The MPs used to tell us dont worry, theyre more afraid of you than you should be of them.