What the heck kind of animal did I see!?

Question

Okay, today i was in my boyfriend's neighborhood. Across the street i saw this weird animal crossing the road. I couldn't tell what it was. It's body was like a river otter, but it had a fluffy tail and it was a sand-beige color. It was fluffy everywhere...it was the size of an otter but had characteristics of a weasel or something. I live in NorthEast Florida.. pretty close to the river and lots of neighborhood ponds. I live about 30 miles away from the beach. Neighborhood has lots of pine trees... Does anyone know what I saw? I even looked at a list of florida mammals with pictures and couldn't find what i saw...?

Answer 1

Muskrat?

http://eliot.needham.k12.ma.us/technolog...

Answer 2

It is possible that it was a nutria.  They are rat like creatures that live all over the area.  It is hard to tell from your description though.

Answer 3

It could have actually been a long-tailed weasel.  But they are pretty rare, and probably wouldn't be found near a neighborhood.

But there is still a chance.  

And note, I'm not from florida..

Answer 4

A Groundhog.  That's what I'm guessing.

Answer 5

It was a big beige-color cat. Or coyote.

Answer 6

It sounds like it may have been a fisher (Martes pennanti). Like otters and weasels, it is a mustelid (belonging to the weasel family). Here's an image:

http://www.kswild.org/Issues/SpeciesProt...

I highly doubt it was a weasel, since you say it was similar in size to an otter. Weasels are MUCH smaller than otters, and don't have particularly fluffy tails. Rodents like groundhogs or muskrats have compact, squarish bodies, unlike the long, slender body of otters or fishers, so I doubt that's what you saw either. Muskrats also have thin, almost hairless tails, and you say your creature had a fluffy tail.