Was at the in laws today, and saw a small critter hopping across his yard,, I mentioned it and he said hes been seeing them for a few weeks now and has no idea what they are, there are more than one some larger than others, and appear to be eating his grass. The larger ones are about half the size of a possum, dark brown, long tail that looks like it has a tuft of thicker hair at the end of the tail. They hop more than they walk and are pretty skittish. We are in Missouri and Im not sure what it could be either,, honestly it looks like a Chinchilla to me, but I know we dont have them in MO. Ill try to get a picture of one, hes gonna try to catch one is his live trap. What do you small game hunters think it could be,, is it some sort of field mouse??? Seems aweful big to be a field mouse, but kind of reminds me of one,,, although much bigger. Ideas??

Sounds almost like a kangaroo rat, but I doubt if you have them there.

There are several species of kangaroo rats in the U.S. many of which are endangered, this might explain why you haven't seen them before. They live in colonies so you will probably see several different ones in the area. There bodies can be 4 to 6 inches long and a tail can be 1 1/2 times the size of the body.

Thanks,, it even reminded me of a kangaroo the way it hopped across the yard,, that pic looks very similar to what I saw, although it was always moving when I saw it.. Do they live in Missouri?

From what I read on them real quick they live in most of the US. There are alot of subspecies and they are pretty rare.