I don’t believe in goat-suckers!
But this stuff has been making the rounds. I’ve checked all the claims of what it should/could be with no luck.
The amazing thing to me is that if no one really knows what this is, you would think biologist would be falling all over themselves to classify it.
Anyone here know?
Snopes turns up a couple of chupacabra stories…this one looks to me like one of those almost-bald breeds of cat.
Come on, “a mix between a hairless dog, a rat and a kangaroo” is (a) written to match the picture, (b) a mixture of a mammal, a rodent and a marsupial, and © hi Opal!
Rodents and marsupials are both mammals.
Almost, but that nose looks nothing like the ones on any of these hairless cats; they all have “cat” noses just like their furry cousins. Hairless dog of some sort I’d buy, though.
Well, I didn’t really clarify. But the biologist and vets who did venture an opinion said it was not mange, hairless, et all.
I spent way too much time researching this, but I find it hard to belive that a semi-large mammal could have escaped notice. Or that no one (in that field) would know at a glance what these things are.
Other site show photos of different but like animals.
The muzzle is too long for a felid, as is the hind leg. It’s definitely some kind of canid. From the photo, I don’t see the slightest reason to think it is anything other than some kind of mongrel domestic dog with a “hairless” gene.
Ditto. I was actually thinking more of a fox–the ears and snout are about right. Perhaps one with a bad case of mange or something.
:smack: sorry for the stupid post! (But the gist of it still stands, I hope?!)
Where is this information from? The site you linked to has very little information. Anybody who would suggest a cross between “a kangaroo, a rat, and a hairless dog” isn’t making a professional assessment.
Link?
Yeah, I knew what you meant. But, I don’t think the article was trying to claim that the creature, whatever it is, was actually a crossbreed, rather, it seemed an attempt to describe the animal’s general appearance. At least, that’s the way I took it.
Like I said I spent way too much time on this already trying to sort the facts from the BS.
Suffice to say I went through about 30 sites. That info is from memory.
I’ll see if I can pull it up from my history menu.
From here:
http://www.woai.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=AA3ED460-09FB-46CB-AAA5-27A353AA1186
"Stacy spent twenty years working with a veterinarian and as a zookeeper for five years, so some of her expertise came in handy on this visit.
She debunked the mange theory.
“This was not a secondary infection,” she pointed out as she examined the pictures. “This was scaly skin. There was no secondary infection in this animal caused by mange.”
I disagree. You can see signs of short hair in various places, although the resolution is far too poor to see good detail. Hair is evident particularly around the ears, at the back of the neck, on the tail and at the rear of the hind legs. It’s very possible the animal was partially shaven. I would not rule out a deliberate attempt at a hoax.
Another one:
http://www.woai.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=E9FD58FA-8327-4CD1-8C55-4118FE1D50B3
Sorry I couldn’t find the other picture site but pretty sure not a hoax. They are doing DNA testing on it.
This link, for the same site, says:
Yeah, I read it but I could post a site where someone says it’s a deer.
That’s really my point. You have biologist and zoologist who say, “maybe it’s a…”. Shouldn’t these people know?
Most of the folks who seem like they actually know what they’re talking about generally agree it’s a canid of some sort. The bulk of the disagreement would appear to be on exactly which type of canid it is. It’s obviously not a deer–the tail is FAR too long.
But my question stands:
How could a canid have escaped classification in the US?
No one’s saying it did, yet. Thus far, there has been no definitive identification, but that doesn’t mean that this animal represents a heretofore unknown canid species. As some of your links point out, it could be an unusual cross between wild and domestic canids or simply a diseased specimen of a known canid species, such as a fox.
Reminds me of this story in Maryland
Link Make sure to click on the picture link, and go to picture 11 and on. But read the story first.