AboutJonathan Wright Expertise I can answer questions about wild mammals, as well as other wild animals. I can also answer questions on extinct animals and zoos.
PLEASE DON'T SEND ME ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT PETS. IF YOU ARE REALLY WORRIED, YOU SHOULD CONTACT A VETERINARIAN. PLEASE DO NOT ASSUME THAT UNPAID PEOPLE ON ALLEXPERTS ARE AVAILABLE 24 HOURS A DAY AND WILL PROVIDE YOU WITH ADVICE THE MOMENT YOUR ANIMAL GETS ILL. Find out how to look after a pet before you get it. It is unfair to keep an animal in inappropriate conditions and give it the wrong food. If you can't keep an animal in good conditions, please don't bring it into your home. I'm not a vet and I don't have any expertise in animal medicine and care. I don't agree with people taking animals out of the wild and then expecting other people to give free advice on how to look after them. It is cruel to take animals away from their parents, who are able to look after the babies and may look for them, while putting their other babies at risk. You may need a licence to look after some animals. You may be breaking the law by keeping wild animals; please check with a local wildlife organisation.
IF YOU FIND AN INJURED ANIMAL, PLEASE CONTACT A WILDLIFE VETERINARIAN OR CHARITY AND LET TRAINED STAFF LOOK AFTER THE ANIMAL. DO NOT TRY TO LOOK AFTER AN INJURED ANIMAL IF YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING.
Please do not remove eggs from nests. The mother birds will know the right temperature for the eggs and will not sit on them if the temperature is warm enough for them to develop naturally. It is illegal to remove eggs of some species and, unless you have an incubator or a broody hen, the egg may not develop. If you are allowed to touch the eggs, you can candle them (check details on websites) to see if the eggs are fertile. If the eggs are not fertile, they will not hatch.
I do not agree with fights between different animals. Please do not ask me questions about them.
Experience I have a zoology degree and have been interested in animals since I was two years old. I am a zoo volunteer at London Zoo. I have appeared on a BBC Radio Quiz, 'Wildbrain'.
Organizations World Wide Fund for Nature. Zoological Society of London. London Bat Group.
Publications Newsletters of London Zoo volunteers and the London Bat Group
Education/Credentials BSC degree in Zoology. 'A' levels in Zoology and Chemistry. 'O' Level in Biology.
In Toronto, Canada, I spotted a strange animal late at night in a downtown
neighbourhood. While I couldn't see it extremely clearly in the street-light, it
honestly looked like a rabbit-sized armadillo! It had a pear-shape, and a
pointed snout, and a straight and shortish tail. It seemed to be a greyish
colour, possibly with some brindle or orange patches. Didn't look "furry". It
was definitley NOT a racoon, fox, rat, bunny, squirrel, or a groundhog. Do
you have any idea what this animal may have been? I could swear it was an
armadillo, and yet I have NEVER heard of any armadillos (noctural or
otherwise) in Toronto -- I have lived here my whole life, and I thought I knew
the wildlife in and around this city very well!!!
Thanks for any help with this one.....
Carolynne
Answer Dear Carolynne
Thank you for your question. I also wish to thank the authors of the websites I used.
Your animal seems very similar to that seen by Daniel (http://en.allexperts.com/q/Wildlife-2507/Strange-nocturnal-raccoon-sized-1.htm). Daniel discounted the following animals, not all of which live in Canada: coati (the animal he saw was nocturnal), kinkajou, raccoon, anteater, aardvark, rodent David Stringer tried to answer the question, but, like me, the animal doesn't bear a strong resemblance to a native Canadian mammal. David suggested that the animal could be a mink, pine marten, fisher or red fox.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mammals_of_Canada is a list of mammals from Canada. There are two animals that could be the animal you saw. These are the American badger and the Virginian opossum. Both have pointed snouts. The opossum would be near the northern limit of its range and northern opossums can lose parts of their ears and tail due to frostbite, thus making them appear strange.
An alternative view is that you saw a nine-banded armadillo. This is a primitive mammals that is spreading its range north. It is very adaptable and could spread to Canada (see https://www.msu.edu/~nixonjos/armadillo/expansion.html). If you have any photographic evidence, I'm sure that the local wildlife service would be interested if there is a new species and order of mammal living in Canada.
While I like the idea of an aardvark or anteater in Canada, I don't think this is very likely.
