What is this animal in Maryland?

In My Humble Opinion
1

So I’m checking the local news this morning, and I see a small filler “slide-show” piece on a mystery animal spotted in Maryland. (Total filler for a Seattle site.) The link is here, left hand side towards the bottom, “SLIDESHOW: Pictures of Unusual Creature In Maryland.”

Okay, I freely admit it’s not news, but hey – thanks for the pictures and zero information. What is that? Is it a hyena? That’s what it looks like to me. DC/MA/VA Dopers, any further information, like, what it is, where it came from, and how it got lost? Thanks ever so. :slight_smile:

2

Put this picture of a hyena next to #3 in your link and they look a lot alike wrt body posture, tail length, ear size, etc.

I’m guessing hyena or a dog with an astronomical case of mange. Either way, this butt ugly thing shouldn’t be in a petting zoo.

3

For your perusal: a prevous thread on the subject which links to another previous thread on the subject.

4

And again, it’s an old story around here.
Various local vets and zoologists have all weighed in and decided that it’s just a stray dog with a bad case of mange.
Not a coyote, not a hyena, not some cross-breed “hy-ote.” If it were a coyote or hyena, other animals like dogs and cats would be afraid of it.

The pictures I keep seeing now (linked from these threads) are really bad and grainy - the ones they had when they first spotted it (and broadcast on the local news channels) were much better. It always looked like a dog to me.

5

Thanks for the links, JEFF! I should have known more alert Dopers than I am would already be on it. :slight_smile:

I’ve seen a ba-zillion coyotes and this doesn’t look like one to me. The face isn’t pointy enough. But if it’s old and crippled (explaining the weird hind-end) and has a bad case of mange . . . maybe. I still vote for hyena.

6

Caught. Red fox with a bad case of scabies.