Photo by Sam Collingwood.If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck...
After posting an article about a young wolverine spotted in Bristow's Sheffield Manor, some residents have shared stories of encountering a similar animal.
Normala DeLaney first saw the wolverine on Deal Court. She said none of the other Mustelids: the common mink, the lesser weasel, nor the long-tailed weasel, resemble the animal she saw in her yard in late July.
Base on the photos posted here by Animal Control, that was not what we saw. It looked nothing like a mink or a weasel. And these animals move differently. Whether you believe it, or not, it is irrelevant. But if it were a wolverine, and someone had illegally brought it here, we hope it would be found soon and not grow bigger and be more dangerous. Hopefully no other small animals or any kids are harmed by it.
DeLaney also said that she would not have contacted her neighbors had she thought the animal she and her family members saw was benign.
Her neighbor has confirmed that the bunnies that live under his porch are now missing.
“Coincidentally, the rabbits that have been living in our fenced-in backyards are gone...nothing but traces of fur left,” wrote Sam Collingwood.
DeLaney noted that the animal dug under her fence to get into her yard, so people may want to watch their pets closely when they are outside, lest they come face to face with a wolverine or another dangerous predator.
But have others seen the animal? One local woman believes she has.
“I live in Haymarket on 10-acres, and I saw something similar (thought it might be a baby bear, but it was long, closer to the ground and walked differently!) It made me go get my husband but by the time he got outside it was gone. I have seen weasels and other smaller animals around but none that looked like this one!”
Another woman claims to have seen another similar unidentifiable animal outside of the county.
“I'm pretty sure I've seen one around the Fauquier/Rappahannock line recently (near the river)...it may have been a fisher, not a wolverine.”
A third woman claims to have seen something similar in Culpeper.
“This is strange, but I saw an animal like this in Culpeper yesterday. It was low to the ground, gray with a bushy dark tail and dark coloring around its eyes. It was not a raccoon.”
Bristow Beat even received an email from a Braemar woman, Claudia Sherman, who believes she heard the animal while walking her dog.
Approximately a week ago I was walking my dog, a yellow lab, and a beagle I was taking care of, around 5 a.m., and both dogs stopped around some cypresses that grow side by side, forming a very compact wall; the dogs did not seem to be scared but rather curious, they kept sniffing and trying to separate the branches with their heads as trying to get into. It was not like they usually do, that time there was more to it. I could even myself feel there was something there. I could not take them away, but they kept sniffing, and at a certain point, I became uneasy; suddenly I heard what I thought might be the sound of a small bob cat or a cougar or some kind of animal capable of imposing fear, and very quickly pulled the dogs leashes away from the tree and got away, but kept looking behind at intervals to check that whatever might have been there was not following us. Until today, I have been wandering what animal might have been there.
After Sherman read the Bristow Beat article about the wolverine, she believed that maybe that was the animal she encountered. She then visited a website from Ferris University that featured animal sounds and clicked on wolverine.
On clicking on wolverine it sounded exactly as the sound I heard that day. I don't know if any of the other animals referred in the article make similar sounds, but whatever was there was not a friendly animal, and it was very obvious. Now, I am getting concerned that the family that reported the sighting might be right. I think that animal control should check into it.
Wildlife Specialist for Fairfax County Katherine Edwards said she is not familiar with the vocalizations wolverines make, but said she does often receive calls about fox sounds, “which can seem unusual and unnerving.”
Of the rabbits disappearance, she said that rabbits have a variety of predators found in Northern Virginia including the red fox, coyote, bobcat (though rarely encountered) hawks and owls.
Additionally, perhaps residents cannot always identify an animal based upon just one photo. Edwards said, “animals will vary in size and coloration.”
She offers further suggestions of what the animal might have been.
“It is possible that it may have been a fisher, bear cub, river otter, or even a ferret (perhaps an escaped pet). It is more likely that it was a young groundhog that are commonly found in Northern Virginia,” Edwards said.
Even though residents are not sure what animal they are seeing, Edwards suggests caution.
“With any wildlife, if a resident encounters an animal that is aggressive, might be sick or injured, they should keep their distance and contact their local Animal Services Division,” she said.
A description of various Virginia mammals is listed here on the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
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