No other good place to put this...added this mammal to the list of things seen around the place

[HereSince1628]

Star-nosed mole.



Actually we're near the edge of it's known range in southern WI. It was at the bottom of the stairwell going to the basement entrance.

[In_The_Wind]

1. Yikes! That's the stuff nightmares are made of.

[HereSince1628]

2. ya if it was the size of a cat or dog, I'd run away from it but

they only terrorize worms and grubs

it was bigger around but just a bit longer than a white-footed mouse.

[Ron Obvious]

3. Amazing coincidence...

My wife called her elderly aunt in Wisconsin this morning to wish her happy birthday, and she described running into a creature that sounded very much like this. She didn't know what it was, and we were just now speculating about it.

[HereSince1628]

4. They are apparently more common in the northern half of the state

Collection records show they also are found along the Kettle moraine, more or less along a line from Green Bay to Rockford with the most southern museum specimen record listed in Mammals of Wisconsin being from Dodge county. I saw mine in Jefferson Co.

[Ron Obvious]

5. The aunt is in central WI (Wausau)

And had never seen one before in the nearly 90 years she's lived there. Maybe the creature's habitat is changing because of global warming. The mole I mean, not the aunt.

[HereSince1628]

6. that's within their range in WI, they're a red-listed species by IUCN

I didn't know that until I looked them up earlier today.