Mystery Mammal Defies Identification
Posted by: Loren Coleman on October 5th, 2007
No photographs have been taken of this mystery animal or I would have posted them. But certainly something strange is being seen in the Wimbledon Common, London, England.
According to an eyewitness a strange animal similar to a squirrel is hiding out on the common leaving people wondering what kind of beast it could be.
So far educated guesses on website Wild About Britain have included the Australasian sugar glider, the North American flying squirrel or another species of possum.
Rather more tongue-in-cheek suggestions have included a flying womble – on account of the common being home to the fictional TV characters.
Wandsworth’s Kolin Barnz, who spotted the beast while on the commen, said: “It was squirrel-like but its face looked more mouse-like, with long whiskers, black eyes and small ears.
“As it jumped between trees, flaps of skin stretched between its front and back legs and it gilded [sic] to the next tree. I couldn’t believe my eyes.” How the animal got to its new home is anyone’s guess, but it is possible it could be someone’s escaped pet.“Is mystery squirrel playing possum after un-Common sighting” by Jamie Henderson, Wimbledon Guardian, UK, October 3, 2007.
About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
Sounds exactly like a sugar glider.
Curiouser and curiouser. I saw this earler, but I knew it would show up here. Thanks, Loren. I hope we find out more about this little beastie in time.
Ah! Poor little sugar glider! Probably freaked out since it got lost from it’s owner.
A friend of mine has one as a pet. One of the most loving and playful creatures I’ve ever seen. It litterally goes everywhere with him. Movies, out eating, shopping, everywhere! Most of the time it’s curled up in his shirt or inside coat pocket snoozing away since they are noctornal. But so is my friend so it works out. This one was probably on it’s owner’s shoulder, saw something interesting, jumped for it, and then realized it’s owner was gone. They create strong bonds with their owners and other sugar gliders. Hopefully someone will get it to come to them. If not the poor thing doesn’t stand a chance once it turns cold!
It does sound like a sugar glider – cute little things! They don’t live around here, but you can buy them.
Yeah, it sounds like a sugar glider. I’ve seen a few in a local exotics expo, and they fit the bill better than the Southeast’s flying squirrels in our trees and chimneys.
Sugar gliders are kept as pets here in the UK, but I believe it is either illegal or you need a handcore license. I’ll follow the story here, see if we get any photos….
Another possibility is a colugo or so-called “flying lemur”, a primitive Southeast Asian mammal of the order Dermoptera. The description of the head is suggestive.
Well, if they see this animal next to a moose, then the mistery would be solved 😉
I see nothing here to make me think that this is some new species or “mystery creature” rather than a known one. It could be a flying squirrel or sugar glider for sure. Seen out of context by someone unfamiliar with these animals could definately cause them to think they had seen something bizarre or unexplainable or give them a start. The real question for me would be where it came from. A photo would be nice!
Without a picture I don’t know why it would be presumed to be anything but a sugar glider, but the way the article reads serves as a very interesting example of how shy crepuscular creatures, appearing suddenly, even in a world innudated with camera phones and all manner of other cameras can escape our detection even when living in an urban postage stamp sized park and seen by lots of eyes. It underscores how un-warranted the notion that since we have no definitive pictures of a sasquatch, they must not exist.
Some postage stamp! Wimbledon common is about a mile square.
Sounds like a sugar glider.I have one of these great creatures as a pet.Im suprised how many of you seem to know what they are,people i run into seem to of never heard of them.
It’s a sugar glider. I own them myself. I also own the largest rescue and rehabilitation forum for sugar gliders on the net. We get many inquiries from people who own them in the UK. And sometimes they escape and ask us for advice on how to recapture their pet.
Definitely an escaped pet sugar glider!
I’m thinking about a sugar glider as a pet. Anything I should know?