neil-gaiman:

badhandful:

neil-gaiman:

rionsanura:

neil-gaiman:

youareiron-andyouarestrong:

This is the best interaction between two of my favorite writers I’ve ever seen @neil-gaiman and @linmanuel

Ah yes. But why a BEAVER?

That’s not a beaver, that’s a giant vole. You can tell by the tiny nose.

This is a beaver.

Oh hive mind of Tumblr. So much wisdom.

As a rodent biologist, I couldn’t resist putting in my two cents. I have no idea how old this thread is, but here goes. So, it’s hard to see in the original tweet if the rodent of interest is a vole or a muskrat. Now, I think we’ve all adequately described why it isn’t a beaver (though I didn’t see mention of the pronounced lids over a beaver’s eyes, or the high positioning of the eyes on the head, or the almost invisible ears, all of which I find more reliable than the big naked nose).

Above is a muskrat (photo credit: OliBac on Flickr (https://www.flickr.com/photos/olibac/14592789583/in/photolist-mS9ftg-oevRWp-dNr86K/))

And above is a water vole, (photo credit: Peter Trimming on Flickr (https://www.flickr.com/photos/peter-trimming/6134138178/))

Sometimes even biologists have a hard time identifying one rodent from another with just a picture to go on. My final verdict for the rodent of interest, though, is muskrat, solely (and I mean solely) because of the size of the water reed in its hand. Now, it could be a really tiny reed (though it’s heavy enough for one end to sink) and if it’s a really tiny reed that could very well be a vole…but I’m going with muskrat. Tough call.

Muskrat faces (not to be confused with the coypu/nutria) look A LOT like vole faces, to the point that I find myself hard pressed to identify a key factor other than size to differentiate the two faces. Muskrats do have more of a lid over their eyes, but when their eyes are wide open the lid is not visible. So when you do a Google image search of a vole, you’ll sometimes come across a muskrat, and vice versa.

The most consistent way to get correct photos is by using the animal’s scientific name in your Google or Flickr search. Not fool-proof, but better than using the common name.

I just want to point out that a joke on Twitter has caused a tumblr post beginning “As a rodent biologist…” that then goes on to unleash wisdom.