Can someone help identify an animal in southern California?

Question

I don't have any pictures of it, but the only details I'll use to describe what I saw are what I'm absolutely sure of. Between 12 and 1am a couple nights ago I saw an animal in my front yard, moving forward, away from my window. My first thought was "pit bull", as it seemed roughly the size of a dog and had a stubby tail. However, this animal then began to climb a tree in my front yard, disappearing behind the foliage. I didn't get a look at it's head/face. The fur seemed to be grayish-brown, but the only light I saw it by was from the porch lights so it could be another color. I live in Thousand Oaks (Ventura County) and I haven't heard of any bear sightings around here, but it reminded me very strongly of a bear cub. Any ideas?

Answer 1

some type of badger prehaps ? im not sure if there are any species in carolina but the description matches a honey badger

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badger

Answer 2

Here's a newspaper article about a bear cub being seen in Ventura on the 1st of July, this year.

http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/20...