Expert says mystery beast is a 'mangey coyote'

NACOGDOCHES Daily Sentinel ^ | 10-15-04 | Johnny Johnson

[sully777]

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - As it turns out, volatile chemicals from a top secret experiment aboard the space shuttle Columbia were probably not responsible for producing some kind of mutant killer deer-dog that is running around deep East Texas sucking the blood from goats.

Anyone who logs onto the Internet and runs a Google Image search for "Coyote" and "mange" may see some animals that look surprisingly like the strange looking "Pollok Mystery Beast" killed Friday in Angelina County.

But SFA forestry professor and deer expert Dr. James Kroll didn't need the World Wide Web to help him identify the creature - he sees them fairly regularly.

"That thing's a mange coyote," Kroll said. "I've been seeing a lot of them lately. We've even photographed some."

When a coyote loses all its hair it will typically end up with scabs all over its body and its skin turns a bluish color, which according to Kroll is why some locals and especially old-timers refer to "mange" as "the blues."

"It's perplexing to me that most people did not know it," Kroll said. "People were calling me asking 'Have you seen that thing that's a cross between a kangaroo and a rat?' I don't know what to say - people love that kind of stuff."

On Thursday, The Daily Sentinel received several calls of "mystery beast" sightings throughout Nacogdoches and Shelby counties.

"Periodically we get a bad case of mange that runs through them pretty badly and knocks the population down," he said. "I'm sorry it's not something more exotic than that, but that's all there is to it. I've seen them dozens of times."

Kroll also said sightings of similar-looking animals could happen all over the state and even the nation, as coyotes can be found just about anywhere in America... [Snip]

[sully777]

"...As for the so-called experts who have been puzzled by the origins of the beast, Kroll said he can't help but question their titles.

"I hope they are not really 'experts' who have anything to do with wildlife," he said. "Because if they are, I'm worried." ------------------------------------------- East Texas breathes a collective sigh of relief.

[Perdogg]

Call Art Bell.

[Calpernia]

Mystery beast killed near Pollok baffles animal experts

Local animal experts are having a hard time identifying a strange looking animal killed in Angelina County on Friday — an animal that looks eerily similar to the as yet unidentified "Elmendorf Beast" killed near San Antonio earlier this year.

"What is that?" are the first words out of anyone's mouth when shown photos of the animal, according to Stacy Womack.

The animal's blue-grey skin is almost hairless and appears to be covered with mange. A closer look at the animal's jaw line reveals a serious overbite and four huge canine teeth, and a long, rat-like tail curls behind the animal's emaciated frame.

Womack — who has more than 20 years experience working at Ellen Trout Zoo and for a local veterinarian — said she's seen and handled a lot of different animals, but that she's never seen anything like this one.

"It's not a dog," she said. "I'd bet my lottery ticket on that."

The animal was shot and killed shortly before noon Friday after crawling under her mother's house on O'Quinn Road in Pollok. Womack said large dogs in the yard "went nuts" and alerted the family, but would only whine and wouldn't go under the house with the animal. Her brother shot the animal, tied a rope around it and dragged it out from under the house for a closer look, she said.

Womack was called to take a photograph of the animal, and possibly help identify it, as well. A live animal, just like the one in the picture, darted across the road in front of her car while she was driving to the scene.

(snip)

[EternalVigilance]

Expert says mystery beast is a 'mangey coyote'

Well, the guy is an expert.

But personally, I still think it's Ward Churchill...

[sully777]

mystery beast of the east Texas Piney Woods ping

[BenLurkin]

DO YOU WORK FOR THE GOVERNMENT?

He is a shill for the puppet masters.

WE know the truth is out there.

[Capriole]

Poor miserable thing! God rest it.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

Yum, what's for dinner?

[RedBeaconNY]

Her brother shot the animal, tied a rope around it and dragged it out from under the house for a closer look, she said.

LOL. try pulling that in the northeast. You'd get arrested for animal cruelty. Sometimes I wish I lived out west, but the comedy the PCs is to die for out here.

[Calpernia]

>>>>>LOL. try pulling that in the northeast. You'd get arrested for animal cruelty.

Did you see the latest that Codey put his pen to?

http://www.state.nj.us/animalwelfaretaskforcereport.pdf

[RedBeaconNY]

"Her brother shot the animal, tied a rope around it and dragged it out from under the house for a closer look, she said."

LOL... try pulling that out in the northeat. You'd be arrested for animal cruelty, first for not letting it into your house and feeding it, then for shooting it WITHOUT A GOOD REASON! (sarcasm). Congrats to the guy with the gun.

[RedBeaconNY]

wow. just wow. who wants to read all that? or follow it? I'll just play ignorance of the law.

what's the deal w/ mr gay american mcgreevey these days?

[Jaysun]

You ever notice that we don't mind killing something when it's ugly? For example, nobody cries about crabs being caught, but if you snag a dolphin in your net it's hell to pay. Likewise, rats are on the kill list but you'd be a sicko if you set giant steel squirrel traps in your yard.

I'm not bitching about it, just making an observation. Oh and that hideous bald dog creature was definitely worthy of death.

[Calpernia]

>>>>what's the deal w/ mr gay american mcgreevey these days?

I've been keeping track of the clowns here:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/1352722/posts
New Jersey - Corruption and Scandal BUMP LIST

>>>>who wants to read all that? or follow it? I'll just play ignorance of the law.

Ignorance can get your driver's license yanked :(

[Calpernia]

>>>>For example, nobody cries about crabs being caught

And who cries for krill?

[Nephi]

Kroll might've explained mange, but mange doesn't explain the hairless and scabless animal in the pics; the overbite and the claws. Mange explains hairloss accompanied by scabs and puss not hairlessness. If Kroll is an expert, I'm worried.

[KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle]

"That thing's a mange coyote," Kroll said. "I've been seeing a lot of them lately. We've even photographed some."

[Jaysun]

And who cries for krill?

I have a strange krill fetish, so they're close to my heart, but I may be the only one. But I'm reading your smoke signals loud and clear chief. To put it another way:

Who cries for cockroaches?

Right?

[MeekOneGOP]

"And that's the way it was" .....

Thanks for the update on this.

[Graymatter]