Kangahippopossumouse

An anonymous correspondent emailed me a link to Arr, the Kraken, where I found this picture of a very curious creature. Arr, the Kraken speculates that it might be a kangahippopossumouse. Perhaps, though it could also be a Tasmanian Dwarf Hippo. Anyone out there able to positively identify this thing?

image

Animals

Posted on Mon Jul 23, 2007


Comments

reminds me of those hotheaded naked ice borers...
Posted by MagicFaireDust  on  Mon Jul 23, 2007  at  01:21 AM
reminds me of this
http://youtube.com/watch?v=TijcoS8qHIE
Posted by mrkurto  on  Mon Jul 23, 2007  at  01:44 AM
somesort of bald rodent?
Posted by samemo  on  Mon Jul 23, 2007  at  02:45 AM
Naked mole rat, perhaps?
Posted by Cranky Media Guy  on  Mon Jul 23, 2007  at  02:48 AM
That's a Moomin! How did he get out of Norway? Does Papa Moomin know?
Posted by Nona  on  Mon Jul 23, 2007  at  06:16 AM
I think I see remnant bits of (grey) fur on the critter. So I think it is some furry animal that trough illness or whatever lost its fur. It looks to me if it could be a squirrel.
Posted by LaMa  on  Mon Jul 23, 2007  at  06:19 AM
now That looks like Chris Farley
Posted by Hairy Houdini  on  Mon Jul 23, 2007  at  07:34 AM
I'm with CMG on this: it's a naked mole rat. It just looks weird because - well, because it's a naked mole rat... though it looks like it might have some tumours or something on its back. That, or it's got spattergoit. Ugly fucker, anyhoo.
Posted by outeast  on  Mon Jul 23, 2007  at  08:29 AM
Yeah, it looks as if it DID have fur...it's just gone in quite a lot of places!
Posted by Maegan  on  Mon Jul 23, 2007  at  08:51 AM
We were actually talking about this on the OTCC last week. We figured it was either a mangy coypu or a mangy mountain beaver.

Things it is definately not:
hairless rat
skinny pig
mangy squirrel
naked mole rat
stressed out chinchilla

Personally, I'm leaning towards the mountain beaver theory now.
Posted by MadCarlotta  on  Mon Jul 23, 2007  at  08:57 AM
What excludes it from being a hairless rat?
Posted by Just wondering  on  Mon Jul 23, 2007  at  12:46 PM
the shape of the face is wrong for a rat, as is the general body shape (unless it has parasites or something). I also don't see a tail, but it's conceivable that the tail met it's demise somehow.
Posted by MadCarlotta  on  Mon Jul 23, 2007  at  04:33 PM
Okay, I'm gonna go out on limb here and point something out to y'all. This critters actual size is probably at best just about an inch or so long in that picture. Look at the "natural habitat photo". There are two dandelion weeds in that picture. The one on the right has not even matured enough for the leaves to finish taking on their "lions tooth" shape yet. Why is this important? Well, although the dandelion in the foreground has matured, the fact that the one on the right has not should give you a good idea of this critters size. My guess is that this is a photo of an abandoned newborn squirrel. Although it appears this critter is squatting there eating, my guess is (after blowing the photo up a bit) it is dead and has started to decompose a bit, giving the appearance (as one fellow stated) of tumors or something growing on its back...
Posted by Christopher  on  Tue Jul 24, 2007  at  12:22 AM
I would think it is is Double Rex Rat.

The Double Rex through out it's life grows velvet like hair and then looses it in patches until it is pretty much bald.. then regrows the patches and the cycle starts over again. As one site put it "These rats have patches of furred areas and bald areas. The patches may also 'wander' over the rat's life- hair growing in where there previously as none, and areas of fur going bald. Coat is short with a coarse texture. Short, tightly curled whiskers." The funny look to the face I think is due to the position of the rat and the angle of the pic taken. The tail is missing either from being under the rat (mine sit like that sometimes) Or being photoshopped out. I have owned a couple double rex rats myself.
Posted by Suki  on  Wed Jul 25, 2007  at  02:02 PM
i think it might be a sick wombat..it should have fur.
Posted by adamhoek  on  Thu Jul 26, 2007  at  03:07 PM
my daughter just happened by and stopped to tell me it was a naked mole rat.. she's 7, and 7 yr olds know EVERYTHING. end of dispute.
Posted by Dee  on  Thu Jul 26, 2007  at  08:01 PM
Naked mole rat ears don't stick out like that, they're mostly internal. Images from Google
Posted by Charybdis  on  Fri Jul 27, 2007  at  09:10 AM
Naked mole rats are only live in parts of East Africa. This picture according to the site was taken in Seattle USA.
Posted by Suki  on  Sat Jul 28, 2007  at  09:37 PM
It's a "skinny pig", a type of hairless guinea pig.
Posted by Skinny pig  on  Wed Aug 01, 2007  at  10:38 PM
I was thinking skinny pig, except that the ears don't look quite right. It could be the odd angle, but skinny-pig ears, like furred-guinea pig ears, are larger than that and sorta floppy. However, if it's a skinny pig that would explain the bumps; some skinnies are prone to that sort of thing.
Posted by Ledasmom  on  Thu Aug 02, 2007  at  01:23 PM
The Skinny pig idea seems the closest.It cannot, however, be: hairless rat(no tail and the heads to strange to be a rat), Naked mole rat (TOTALLY WRONG body shape, trust me, I've sen live ones before),beaver (even if it has no fur that doesnt explain the habitat or lack of tail,same with squirrel). Even skinny pig theories have problems over the ears. No matter what it is, its safe to assume it is very sick.
Posted by The Notorious J  on  Fri Aug 03, 2007  at  04:38 AM
Am I the only one with an excessive desire to touch it? It looks like it would feel soft and suede-like. And it's cute little pot belly...
Posted by Lina  on  Sat Aug 04, 2007  at  01:03 PM
Whatever it is, it's kind of cute.
Posted by Eleanor  on  Wed Apr 11, 2012  at  08:02 AM
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