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Unidentifed Ball of Leaping Gray Fur.

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  • Unidentifed Ball of Leaping Gray Fur.

    While sitting on the summit of Whiteface yesterday (Thursday, May 4), a small animal emerged from under the observation deck, scurried across an open area to a pile of rocks and proceeded to leap from one to another before disappearing out of view.

    In the few short seconds I had to observe it, I noticed the following:
    1. It was gray. I didn't notice any contrasting colors.
    2. It seemed at least as big as a chipmunk but much smaller than a gray squirrel.
    3. Its hairy tail was about a quarter the length of its body (no longer than a third). The tail-hair was flattened (horizontally).
    4. When jumping from one boulder to another, it leaped into the air with its front limbs outstretched.


    It's the fourth trait, the leaping, that both fascinated and amused me. You could imagine hearing a sound like "BOING!" each time it comically leaped into the air, limbs outstretched like it was sky diving. It didn't just drop from one rock to another, it sprang up into an arc.

    I've consulted the following information and voles, shrews, and mice don't fit the description because they all have hairless tails. The Woodland Jumping Mouse has the jumping trait but is disqualified by its long hairless tail.

    Adirondack Mammals

    Mouse, Mole or Vole? Learning Your Adirondack Small Mammals

    The Woodland Jumping Mouse

    I'm stumped. Does anyone have any idea what kind of animal I may have seen?


    PS
    The single photo I took is unusable for identifying the animal.
    Last edited by Trail Boss; 05-05-2017, 11:06 AM. Reason: Typo. More details.
    Looking for views!

  • #2
    Flying squirrel?
    My YouTube channel

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    • #4
      I posted the same question on ADKhighpeaks and the leading contender is the Southern Flying Squirrel.

      The main sticking point is it has two prominent visual markings I didn't see:
      1. White underbody.
      2. Dark stripe where gray top fur meets white bottom fur.

      In fairness, I may have simply failed to notice them because I saw the animal from 10-25 feet away and 6 feet above it (and for ~10-15 seconds max).

      I also failed to notice the flying squirrel's characteristic "wing suit" but that might be because the animal wasn't in full flight and its loose folds didn't inflate. Or it simply wasn't a flying squirrel.

      I can't stress how amusing it was to see this thing bound into the air with its front limbs outstretched. Very comical.
      Looking for views!

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      • #5
        Flying squirrels are mainly nocturnal.
        Rarely seen during daylight hours.
        Jim

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        • #6
          I've seen flying squirrels during the daytime/evening....fun little critters to watch!

          I had a similar experience with an unidentified critter encounter in the Piseco area last weekend... Setting up camp not far from a stream and out of the corner of my eye I saw something white(ish) in color dart very quickly about 60-80 feet from left to right on the far bank just through the tree line. It happened so quickly I couldn't tell what it was exactly, and whatever it was wasn't tall enough to see the rest of its body, but I'm guessing maybe it was an ermine, which would be my first, but not sure if they still have a white coat in late April. I don't think it was a hare.

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          • #7
            A very rare sighting of the illusive Adirondack Pika.... eaten to near extinction by Adirondack Murray's disciples and once thought lost there are occasional recent Adirondack sightings....Sightings are less frequent than mountain lion sightings and treated with equal skepticism by the DEC. Unlike the Pika found in Western states these have a distinctive short tail.
            They are most often spotted during Labor Day weekend when food dropped by herds of college outing clubs satisfy their ravenous appetite for dropped peanuts, M&M's and dried cranberries.

            Very likely to have been a jumping mouse, the leaping is strongly characteristic.
            If you were able to see this much detail:
            Its hairy tail was about a quarter the length of its body (no longer than a third). The tail-hair was flattened
            it seems unlikely that you would have missed a flying squirrels flaps...

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            • #8
              Originally posted by mgc View Post
              ...Very likely to have been a jumping mouse, the leaping is strongly characteristic....
              Except the Woodland Jumping Mouse has a long hairless tail. The animal I saw had a flattened hairy tale.
              Looking for views!

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              • #9
                Originally posted by Trail Boss View Post
                Except the Woodland Jumping Mouse has a long hairless tail. The animal I saw had a flattened hairy tale.
                I had a bad experience with one of those. It was about 2am, and I got up out of the tent to relieve myself. I was standing there minding my own business and watering a tree, when suddenly one of those jumped at me and bounced off my thigh. Hilarity ensued.

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                • #10
                  A little vacation tour by the Nye Wolf?

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                  • #11
                    Originally posted by Trail Boss View Post
                    Except the Woodland Jumping Mouse has a long hairless tail. The animal I saw had a flattened hairy tale.
                    As prominent as a wood rats?

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                    • #12
                      Originally posted by mgc View Post
                      As prominent as a wood rats?
                      A woodrat is described as being substantially larger than what I saw.
                      The Allegheny woodrat is the second largest member of the native North American rats and mice


                      ... weighs up to a pound, roughly the size of a grey squirrel. Allegheny woodrats measure approximately 16 inches long, half of which is tail.
                      Plus a woodrat's tail is covered by 1/3" long hairs while what I saw was more like a chipmunk's tail in terms of hair length. There was nothing rat or mouse-like about its tail. That characteristic alone excludes mice, shrews, and voles.
                      Looking for views!

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                      • #13
                        My money is on the flying squirrel also. Far too much experience with them in my attic and others. Got a good close up look at a couple last year when my outdoor cat discovered how good they taste. The flat tail is a dead giveaway for me. Did it have overly large eyes? You really don't notice the extra skin unless it is flying, otherwise it's kindof like a fold and could easily hide the white underside. Sounds like it was trying to figure out how to fly without a tree to launch from.

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                        • #14
                          I'd go with flying squirrel too -- unless maybe an immature red or gray? Any of them would be strange to see on a summit above treeline, but you saw something. Jumping mice tails actually aren't hairless, but they much skinnier, not fluffy like the squirrels; & they are indeed MICE (much smaller than a chipmunk). The flying squirrel tail is shorter & smaller than the other two squirrels. And the stretched-out limbs while jumping fits, even if you didn't see membranes.

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                          • #15
                            It's path of travel briefly moved across my field of view and then away from me. As a result, I didn't have enough time to take note of its eyes.

                            Nevertheless, flying squirrel is the best contender so far mostly because it fits the description for overall size, fur color, and tail appearance. I'll try to find a local wildlife expert on the subject because, despite this useful process of elimination, I still have a few questions arising from doubts. For example, is it normal for flying squirrels to be seen in an Adirondack alpine zone (4600')? Do flying squirrels typically leap upward when hopping from one boulder to another? Does the time of the year or the presence of the structures atop Whiteface explain its appearance?
                            Looking for views!

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