I’m not sure about the lost part – but definitely a cousin. I read up on muskrats and I’ve learned that they are a neozoon in Europe and are originally native to North America. They are often mistaken for coypus here which are also a neozoon species but stemming from South America. I wasn’t sure what I had seen here until the creature smiled at me.

The orange teeth are a dead giveaway: it’s a coypu.

The Ragtag Daily Prompt: Muskrat