In article , kay.d369276
@gardenbanter.co.uk says...

Gosh! What a lot of replies!

It was the urg Christmas quiz :-) No cigar, then.

Not any of those.

Water vole - tail too long, and it was light silver grey
weasel - too fat and stationary
polecat/ferret - body too short, tail much thinner
stoat - body too short
otter - tail too thin
squirrel - it was not a mangey tail, it was a perfectly well-formed thin
tail, like a rat or mouse.

The closest I can think of is a degu. While it's not totally impossible
(it's also a residential area, and there's a nearby petshop), rat is
still looking the best bet.

I had to google degu, never heard of them before. See what you learn
on usenet..

Janet