# What is this animal in Maryland? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 28, 2004, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-animal-in-maryland/257288 "2004-07-28T17:07:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2004, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-animal-in-maryland/257288/1 "2004-07-28T17:07:13Z")
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](http://www.kirotv.com/index.html), 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. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2004, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-animal-in-maryland/257288/2 "2004-07-28T18:13:41Z")
Put [this](http://www.wildlife-pictures-online.com/image-files/hyenakp216.jpg) 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. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2004, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-animal-in-maryland/257288/3 "2004-07-28T18:21:11Z")
For your perusal: [a prevous thread on the subject](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=267615&highlight=maryland+mange) which links to [another previous thread on the subject](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=267249). ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2004, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-animal-in-maryland/257288/4 "2004-07-28T18:39:39Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2004, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-animal-in-maryland/257288/5 "2004-07-28T18:47:29Z")
Thanks for the links, JEFF! I should have known more alert Dopers than I am would already be on it. 🙂 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. ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-animal-in-maryland/257288/6 "2004-08-02T12:21:32Z")
Caught. Red fox with a bad case of scabies.