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Did I just see an Aardvark in Tenleytown?
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Anonymous
| I'm not from this country so have no clue about the wildlife here. But I just saw an animal crossing a residential street in Tenleytown that looked like an aardvark? What do you suppose it was? Something native? Or escaped from the zoo ... ? |
Anonymous
| Was it sort of grayish-white? If so, probably a possum. |
Anonymous
|
Opossum? http://www.gpnc.org/images/jpegs/animals/opossum.jpg
If that's what you saw, stay away from it. They are nocturnal and if you see one in day time, it could be sick with distemper, which makes them aggressive. They have big teeth. We have one that cruises our alley at night, looking for scraps. |
Anonymous
| LOL! Probably an opossum. We had one in our backyard and before I knew what it was I told DH we had an R.O.U.S. (Rodent of unusual sizes, from The Princess Bride). They are really freaky looking. |
Anonymous
| OP here - not so sure it was an opossum because it wasn't hairy. It didn't have scales either - more like pig skin. About the size of a cat. |
Anonymous
| saw a wild turkey on military road sunday.... |
Anonymous
|
Thanks for the chuckle, OP! I hope it was an aardvark!
More urban sightings: I often run in the woods, and I have seen lots of beautiful foxes and of course hundreds of deer. FYI, healthy foxes are not always nocturnal, so it is NOT a safe assumption that a fox spotted in the daytime is sick. (Do not call animal control!) Possums and raccoons frequent our neighborhood (Glover Park). We have seen an enormous one in our back alley--easily twice the size of the one in the photo link above. We have also seen what must have been the world's fattest raccoon. When he jumped from our back fence, the sound of his landing was akin to the sound of an adult human landing. We also frequently see hawks around town. One lives right next to the Cleveland Park library. We recently saw him/her landing with a pigeon in his talons. The living is good for urban wildlife! |
Anonymous
|
I saw this. What is it?
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1366/880022262_a3e0ff2536_o.jpg |
Anonymous
|
OP here. Well, I guess it could have been a large opossum that lost its hair (sick, I guess). Definitely not any of the other links.
It is strange seeing stuff like this - thanks for the stories! |
Anonymous
| Hmmm....sounds like a well-fed rat. |
Anonymous
| Opossoms hair can be hard to see bc it is often light or white. The photo link opossom looks more like a rat then a real opossom. I think that is what you saw. |
Anonymous
|
One night years ago, I was sitting in my dark family room at 2 a.m. nursing my baby, when the motion detector lights clicked on and this huge possum appeared outside the window. Creepy nighttime sight! The other day, I was about to pull into my driveway in Bethesda at midday, and a big hawk was sitting right in the middle of it. I took that as a good omen. Definitely more appealing than the possum. |
Anonymous
| I hate possums. I'm never the least bit sad to see them squished on the road. I don't aim for them or anything, but... yuck. |
Anonymous
so cute!!!! |
Anonymous
| Perhaps it was an armadillo? |