[rainbowlady]

I was coming up my drive (we live in rural Washtenaw county), and in a hollow tree, I saw the back of a large animal. It had grey, long fur, and climbed up inside the log pretty rapidly. It was a large animal, at least twice a male cat's size. The fur was quite long, and grey in color. Any ideas?

[Bydand]

Possum.

[michmoldman]

Originally Posted by Bydand

Possum.

I second the possum.

[rainbowlady]

possum huh? it had really long fur though. And it was pretty big. I have never seen a possum that big. I would say, it was twice as long as our large tomcat, and much bigger around. Maybe we have like the "ultra possum", but not sure.

[grhtex]

A raccoon? They get pretty big.

It may have been the elusive snipe as well. I've never seen one but was told at camp in 5th grade that they existed and we spent the better part of a night looking for them...

[rainbowlady]

ha ha..... maybe we went to the same schoool, we also did that in 5th grade. It had gray fur only, not like a raccoon. I'll keep an eye on the tree and see if I can see it again.....

[grhtex]

Look for foot prints at the base of the tree and in the vicinity and see if you can match them up with anything by searching the net..

Camp High Hope in Northern Indiana circa 1973. One of my best memories from all of grade school.

[Bydand]

Originally Posted by rainbowlady

possum huh? it had really long fur though. And it was pretty big. I have never seen a possum that big. I would say, it was twice as long as our large tomcat, and much bigger around. Maybe we have like the "ultra possum", but not sure.

Possums have rather long fur actually, and can get the size of a large tom cat. Go look at the opening the animal went up, it is probably smaller than you think. Guessing the size of an animal on the move can be difficult. Here is a photo I found that shows how long a possum's fur can be.


And another one from Seattle pest removal showing a good sized possum (opossum really, "possums" live in Australia and that region).

[rainbowlady]

Yup. That would be it. I'm going to walk down to that tree and look, but pretty positive it was a possum. But man, was he hairy.

[Bydand]

Originally Posted by rainbowlady

Yup. That would be it. I'm going to walk down to that tree and look, but pretty positive it was a possum. But man, was he hairy.

Could be losing his winter coat which would make him look about twice as furry as usual.