They weren't squirrels after all

[DannyS1951]

Am I the only one who misidentified the squirrels that visit my Bangkok garden? I'm sure in past years we had real squirrels visiting us but their behavior had changed over the last couple of years. They still run along the power lines and jump into the trees, but they seem to spend far more time on the ground. They have bushy tails but are not as colorful as in the past. Worse is they raid the bird nests in the garden. A couple of months ago we caught one by accident in an open rat trap left outside. One of those traps that just closes the entry door and doesn't kill. Anyway this little monster didn't have a squirrel's mouth and teeth. It had a set of sharp carnivorous teeth which made me wary of sticking a finger anywhere near them. (I know I should have taken a photo.) I think I have now identified them as tree shrews. They aren't rats as they have the longer hind legs like a squirrel and the bushy tail. Any mammal experts out there. It seems tree shrews are an early primate like animal in our evolutionary tree.

[Speedo1968]

A chipmunk ?

[toofarnorth]

Yes , a Tree Shrew , we have them in the big trees over the road , they chatter like squirrels and they too run along the power cables. A couple of years ago one of our cats caught one and brought it too us , rats are the usual catch but not this time.

[G Rex]

Thailand has many squirrel species

http://www.norththailandbirding.com/pages/galleries/mammals_c/th/th_squirrels_01.html

One of our dogs goes crazy whenever we have one near our house.

 

The tree shrew is normally found in Southern Thailand - so it may be unusual to see one in Thailand, though yours may have been an ‘escapee’ as these guys are sometimes kept as pets by Thais.

[DannyS1951]

7 hours ago, toofarnorth said:

Yes , a Tree Shrew , we have them in the big trees over the road , they chatter like squirrels and they too run along the power cables. A couple of years ago one of our cats caught one and brought it too us , rats are the usual catch but not this time.

Yes that's the ones. Thanks.

[BritManToo]

They're all over Chiang Mai.

One was running along my garden wall earlier this morning.

[DannyS1951]

7 hours ago, G Rex said:

Thailand has many squirrel species

http://www.norththailandbirding.com/pages/galleries/mammals_c/th/th_squirrels_01.html

One of our dogs goes crazy whenever we have one near our house.

 

The tree shrew is normally found in Southern Thailand - so it may be unusual to see one in Thailand, though yours may have been an ‘escapee’ as these guys are sometimes kept as pets by Thais.

Thanks G Rex. I had read that about them being in the south. It could be a feral population as the weekend market used to sell all sorts of wild animals.

[DannyS1951]

A friend in Hua Hin just told me they have both these and normal squirrels on his housing estate.