Believe it or not, I saw a lemming in Missouri

Last week, I happened to see a different kind of animal running from our SUV, so I watched to see where it was headed and when it stopped, I headed out to see just what it was.

I got within several feet from it, but still couldn't tell what it was. It looked more like a baby rabbit in size and color, but it had short ears and a short tail.

After moving even closer, it ran back under the vehicle. I told a friend about the small critter and we decided to look it up in a book I have about North American plants and animals.

It was there that we discovered the visitor was a Southern Bog Lemming. I had always thought lemmings were native to places up north or Scandinavia.

In reading about the lemming's habits and appearance we learned it is a social critter that lives in colonies from a few to a dozen or more. It is also found in the company of other small animals including moles and often uses the mole's runways and burrows, which helps explain why there are so many mole runs in my yard as well as the neighbor's.

The lemming feeds on leaves, berries, seeds and bark which explains why we find these items under the hood of our vehicles.

Nothing in the outdoors should surprise me anymore. I have seen cougar, black bear, loons, cormorants and bobcats within walking distance of home along with the usual turkey, deer, rabbits, squirrel and quail.

In relating the lemming story to a friend, the thought of something like the Rip Van Winkle story came to mind, where the man who had been in a deep sleep for some 40 years would suddenly awaken to find a different world of wildlife here in Missouri.

Seeing all the deer and turkey of today along with critters new to the state, including armadillos and roadrunners, would cause him to go into another deep sleep.

Even the fishing today would surprise old Rip. With muskie, walleye, hybrid strippers and big brown trout swimming in our state's waters would make it seem like another place.

"With animals moving in and through the state including mountain lions, elk and even moose, nothing would surprise me anymore," said my friend.

Jack Franklin, a former Kansas City resident now living in the Ozarks, said, "For years I had heard stories about mountain lions in the state, but when I talked to conservation agents, they said there wasn't any such animal in the state. However, when one was hit right in the metropolitan area of the city, it proved otherwise. Since then there have been confirmed sightings of these animals in the state. You just never know what you might run into while you are in the outdoors anymore."