She posted photos of her holding the unidentified animal on social media, which prompted a wide variety of guesses. Some insist that it\u2019s a dead pine marten or perhaps a fisher cat, which are members of the weasel family.<\/p>\n
Others said it might be an oddly-colored squirrel.<\/p>\n
One of the wilder suggestions was that it might be a drowned baby wolverine.<\/p>\n
MacMillan told Cowboy State Daily that her best guess is that it was an immature marmot that got too close to the river, fell in and met its fate.<\/p>\n
Cowboy State Daily sent photos of the mystery carcass to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department asking for a possible ID, but there was no response from the agency Monday.<\/p>\n
MacMillian said a look at the critter\u2019s teeth likely would have definitively told the tale of what it was.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, she never got the chance.<\/p>\n
She hadn\u2019t been holding it very long when skin on the part of the tail she had gripped in her fingertips \u201cgloved off\u201d (sluffed off the animal), and the carcass plopped back into the water. She wasn\u2019t able to grab it again.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am so intrigued by it,\u201d she said. \u201cI really love nature and I love knowing about the animals.\u201d<\/p>\n
The animal\u2019s fur was dark, practically black, she said.<\/p>\n In the photos, it also appears to have white spots on it. MacMillan\u00a0said the animal\u2019s eyes had turned white from the carcass being in the water.<\/p>\n Based on her brief examination, she said the other white spots appeared to be from the natural decomposition process. She also didn\u2019t see any evidence that fish or birds had been trying to feed on the carcass.<\/p>\n She leans toward thinking the animal was a marmot because of its feet.<\/p>\n Looking at the photos, \u201cI can see only four toes in the front, with two pads behind. On the rear feet I see five,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n That matches a marmot\u2019s foot pattern.<\/p>\n The relatively flat skull also indicates a marmot, rather than an otter or member of the weasel family, she added.<\/p>\n The Teeth Would Have Given It Away<\/strong><\/p>\n She\u2019s frustrated that the carcass slipped from her fingers and was lost before she got a chance to get a good look at the mouth.<\/p>\n Oversized front incisors, common among rodents, would have been a dead giveaway for a marmot, MacMillian said.<\/p>\n But if the critter had sharp canines and an array of teeth more suited toward a carnivorous predator, that would have pushed things more in the direction of a fisher cat or some other weasel.<\/p>\n MacMillan\u00a0said she hopes somebody can help her positively identify the mystery creature.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m slightly baffled by it,\u201d she said. \u201cI feel like I should send the photos to a biologist.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n![\"Jackson-Area](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Mystery-dead-thing-7.14.25.jpg\")
Jackson-Area resident Sarah Harrison MacMillan found this unidentified dead critter floating in the South Fork of the Shoshone River on Saturday. She thinks is might be a young marmot, but others have guessed that it could be an otter, a fisher or even a baby wolverine. (Courtesy Sarah Harrison MacMillan)Why She Thinks It\u2019s A Marmot<\/strong><\/p>\n