Mammal ID

I have seen groundhogs swimming across the Yellow Breeches at least twice. One was close enough that I could have touched it as it swam by.
 
I have seen hundreds of ground hogs and can't rule that out; seemed to be the general size range. It was a really strong swimmer though and I didn't get a good look at it's body. It also didn't appear to be swimming with a purpose; just casually circled around me and dove into deeper water when it got spooked.
 
I dont know the body of water you are talking about, but is it out of the realm of possibility it was an otter? He said it maybe was an otter in the original post. If he knows minks and musrats and said it was beaver size but a pointy tail, Id bet $1 on otter.
Very, very unlikely a fisher, like someone else said they are mountain mammals, with some in the foothills and a few in farm country. They arent nearly as aquatic as mink are.
 
Id say river otter
 
River otter was my guess as well
 
Could have been an otter. They are long and can be big. I’ve been seeing one on a creek I fish. Trying to think of ways on how to get it on my trail cam.
 
My aunt-in-law (is that the thing?) had a pair of otters at her pond last year. Confirmed with photos. Her pond is 7 miles from the Susquehanna and like a mile from the closest stream.

They hung out for like a week and left.

I think, like the eagle, they are making a good comeback.
 
Probably an otter. We had one two years ago that hung out on a stocked stream for a month. Saw him drag a huge rainbow up on a bank. They spook easy. Soon as he realized I was there, he took off down the creek towing the rainbow by the head. Found him later by following the noise of fish bones being crunched.
York County about a mile from the Susquehanna.
 
Regardless of what the mystery animal is, has anyone else noticed an abundance of aquatic mammals the past few years? I wonder if that could be attributed to the decline of trapping.
 
Van_Cleaver wrote:
Let's take this from the top.
I was raised on a farm, trapped muskrats and have seen minks; rule them out. The visibility was fine and I was close enough see it's face and nose and assumed it was a beaver since it was swimming like one, with only a small portion of it's head and nose exposed. When it dove the tail was fairly short and furry; that ruled out beaver. I have never seen a fisher this far south and would be surprised if one spent that much time cruising around. Looking at the picture someone provide here I'd say it's tail was a bit shorter as well.
Click to expand...

Do you have nutria in your area? Head and body wise they look like beaver but the tail is more like that of a fat muskrat with some hair on it. They are an invasive species. There are tons of them in ponds and wetlands around Eugene.

https://www.google.com/search?q=nutria&rlz=1C1HIJC_enUS833US833&sxsrf=ALeKk02V5zqzIQYaC7YQkE2O0drwH3ZuBQ:1588316345061&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjF5Ka8i5LpAhUNuZ4KHUEqDnEQ_AUoAXoECB0QAw&biw=1021&bih=583
 
I have not seen nutria in our area but looking at the pics it easily could have been one. I also haven't seen any otters around here so the jury is still out on this one.
 
Dobhar-chu
 

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I surprised a Beaver the other day. I jumped, he jumped, scared us both. Couldn't have been more than 10' between us.
 
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