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Residents are wondering if an animal found dead over the weekend may be the mysterious creature that has mauled dogs, frightened residents and been the subject of local legend for half a generation.

The animal was found near power lines along Route 4 on Saturday, apparently struck by a car while chasing a cat. The carcass was photographed and inspected by several people who live in the area, but nobody is sure exactly what it is.

Michelle O'Donnell of Turner spotted the animal near her yard about a week before it was killed. She called it a "hybrid mutant of something."

"It was evil, evil looking. And it had a horrible stench I will never forget," she told the Sun Journal of Lewiston. "We locked eyes for a few seconds and then it took off. I've lived in Maine my whole life and I've never seen anything like it."

For the past 15 years, residents across Androscoggin County have reported seeing and hearing a mysterious animal with chilling monstrous cries and eyes that glow in the night. The animal has been blamed for attacking and killing a Doberman pinscher and a Rottweiler the past couple of years.

People from Litchfield, Sabattus, Greene, Turner, Lewiston and Auburn have come forward to speak of a mystery monster that roams the woods. Nobody knows for sure what it is, and theories have ranged from a hyena or dingo to a fisher or coydog, an offspring of a coyote and a wild dog.

Now, people are asking if the mystery beast and the animal killed over the weekend are one and the same.

Wildlife officials and animal control officers declined to go to Turner to examine the remains. By Tuesday, the carcass had been picked clean by vultures and there was not much left of the dead animal.

Loren Coleman, a Portland author and cryptozoologist, said it's unlikely that the animal was anybody's pet.

After reviewing photos of the carcass, Coleman said he was bothered by the animal's ears and snout. It reminded him of a case years ago in northern Maine in which an animal shot by a hunter could not be identified. In the end, wildlife officials got a DNA analysis that showed the animal was a rare wolf-dog hybrid, he said.

Mike O'Donnell, who is married to Michelle O'Donnell, said the animal looked "half-rodent, half-dog" to him.

It was charcoal gray, weighed between 40 and 50 pounds and had a bushy tail, a short snout, short ears and curled fangs hanging over its lips, he said. It looked like "something out of a Stephen King story."

"This is something I've never seen before. It's an evil-looking thing," he said.

Jordan .

As a mild aside, Cryptozoologist has to be one of the coolest jobs ever.

Or why didn't the passers-by who took pictures at least pick the thing up and drop it off at the nearest university?

I don't get it either. At least we have a picture of the thing.  

Jordan .

I love how whenever anyone sees an animal that is unfamiliar or odd-looking, they instantly label it a monster or a mutant and consider it a freak of nature. Yeah, because it couldn't possibly be a rare or undiscovered species, right? No, it's just "evil-looking".

I suspect the wildlife and animal control folks declined to go out there specifically because of the report of it being a mutant monster dog with glowing eyes and whatnot. Animal control typically has nothing to do with roadkill, and the wildlife folks have probably been called out on enough wild goose chases over the years with this local myth that they're at the end of their "boy who cried wolf" rope.

~ Amanda

"Just fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave..."

*LOL* That could be the case as well. :)

I can't imagine having a strange, unknown/unusual animal laying in a ditch in my town and not having the urge to pick it up and take it somewhere, or at least take like some fur samples and tissue samples and a ton of photos from all angles to supply to the wildlife folks. Y'know, that whole mountain and Mohammed thing.

With our luck, that animal was probably not only the last of it's kind, it probably also held the cure for cancer in its genetic coding.

~ Amanda

"Just fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave..."

I think I saw this same story recently in that "Req's Pick's" list of horror films to watch.  Think about it -- "Ginger Snaps???"  Hmmm?

Susan 

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin