Midnight Visit

NO....THIS IS NOT A PHOTO THAT I TOOK....I "BORROWED" IT FROM www.google.com and I know that someone else has the rights to it...so this is published for "educational purposes" only and will be removed if the real owner makes an official request....call my lawyer, Mr. Dewy Cheetham. (written 17 June 06)

I had an exciting wild visitor last night...and I’m not talking about the neighborhood soccer hooligans either! Around midnight I went outside and was sitting on my front porch swing listening to the cows across the way. Suddenly to my right I hard a soft noise and saw something hopping over from the field. It was pretty dark and the animal had dark fur, so I assumed that it was a rabbit due to the noise that it made while moving. When it moved again I clearly recognized the distinctive hop of a ferret, or ferret like animal. It hopped behind our cars, over the small property dividing wall, and into the field on the other side of our property.

After a moment I heard more noise on the wall by the cars. I had a mini flashlight in my pocket...what luck there…and put my visitor right in the spotlight. I knew instantly that he must belong to the mustelidae family (weasels), but I wasn't sure if he was a wild mink or a pole cat. (My research led me to believe that I found a "stone martin" but I could be wrong.) I think that he was marking his claim on top of the wall and then after a few more stomps and hind leg scratching he dove under the car. So I waited and soon enough he was staring back at me from under the front of the car. His eyes reflected yellow with the flash light. He then went under the car and came out from the side. While I wasn't frightened I was glad that I was up on my porch so he would have to take some effort to get at me if he wanted. Of course our little two foot high porch wouldn’t stop him, but it made me feel better.

So for a few minutes we played the game of him hiding under the car then sticking his head out to see if I could shine my light on him. He finally grew weary and went down our driveway and then back into or hedges, stopping every few feet so I could catch the reflection of his eyes with my light. I’m not 100% sure on what he was, but he was too large for a weasel or European polecat. I really couldn’t tell much about his markings even with the light on him. I attached a photo of a stone martin just so you can get an idea, but I could be wrong. However, I do know for sue that he was not a cat, rabbit, skunk, hedgehog, weasel, freaky dog, or escaped ferret. Sure wished that I had my camera!!