Evidently a massive internet debate has broken out over the identity of an alleged "monster" that floated up on the shore of a Canadian lake in the far North of Ontario. Only photos exist, because when the photographers left the body washed up on shore and returned 2 days later, the "Chuppacabra" was gone. I am a wildlife enthusiast, and when I first saw the pictures I thought that it was quite clearly an otter. Short legs and a long slender body suggest an otter, where any muskrat I've ever seen was short and fat. Some suggest it is a wolverine, but I'm pretty sure that a wolverine has a longer snout.
I should put this to a poll question. Tell me what species you think this mysterious creature actually is. I do not believe that it is a rare or undiscovered species. I believe that it is just an otter with no fur on its face.
The Creature
An Otter
A Muskrat
A Bear Cub
A Wolverine
A Chupacabra
UPDATE: I just read an expert who says that it is a mink, which is very possible given that there is no reference for actual size in the photograph (one article says it was 20cm long, which suggests mink or young otter). Sadly I did not include the mink as an option in my poll, and to go back and change it would erase the votes of the people who have already voted. If you look at the feet of the creature in the picture, they most closely resemble the mink than the otter.
I thought it kind of resembled a small badger, until I saw your picture of the chupacabra!
ReplyDeleteBarb
LMAO, I spit out my drink when I got to Kady's picture...
ReplyDeleteDamn Iceman, that was funny. Great post as always, love the blog..
My opinion is that it's a "Hoax", a not too rare creature closely related to the "Ogopogo" in B.C., the "Manopogo" in Lake Manitoba, and the Loch Ness Monster.
ReplyDeleteThere's one spotted at the start of every tourist season.
DMorris
Just looked up A Chupacabra, Classic Iceman, f'n classic
ReplyDeleteThe Chupacabra (pronunciation: /tʃupaˈkabɾa/, from the Spanish words chupar, meaning "to suck", and cabra, meaning "goat"; literally "goat sucker"), also called El Chupacabra in Spanish, is a legendary cryptid (a creature whose existence has been suggested but is regarded as highly unlikely) rumored to inhabit parts of the Americas. The name comes from the animal's reported habit of attacking and drinking the blood of livestock, especially goats. Physical descriptions of the creature vary. Eyewitness sightings have been claimed as early as 1990 in Puerto Rico, and have since been reported as far north as Maine, and as far south as Chile. It is supposedly a heavy creature, the size of a small bear, with a row of spines reaching from the neck to the base of the tail.
ReplyDeleteLOL Kady.... very funny man, very funny
ReplyDeleteIceman you are right the "creature" most likely is an otter. If you look closely at the fur in the head shot it definitely is the fur of a semi-aquatic fur-bearer such as an otter, muskrat, beaver, or mink and it definitely is not the latter three. The fur is not that of a non-aquatic animal such as a wolverine. A wolverine's hair has much different characteristics and is hollow and not oily enough to survive for long periods in the water. The carcas obviously was rotting in the water prior to washing up on shore and hence the fur beginning to shed from the face area. My guess is the face is distorted as it begins to shrivel and rot in the water otherwise it would look more natural like that of an otter. The only thing that takes me back is the pink nose. I have never seen that in an otter before unless it was albino but then the fur would have been white. My guess is the pigment was coming out of the nose and facial skin due to long exposure in the water but I don't know if that could happen. Just my 2 cents worth based on a number of years in the fur business. Good post! My vote is otter.
ReplyDeleteI knew it!..only I thought the pic was going to be David Hasselhof or Marlene Jennings...
ReplyDeleteAn expert is now saying that it is a mink. Now that I think of it, there is nothing in the picture that references size. Mink are much smaller than otter, and the zoomed in picture could make the small animal appear larger. We will have to ask the photographer how big the carcas was.
ReplyDeleteIf it is a hoax, I don't think it is a plaster sculpture with fake fur. I think it was once a live animal, and that somebody likely applied a chemical to the face to make the fur fall off, possibly even bleach. The eyes and nose appear to be bleached. Some guy with a tourist camp traps an otter and takes it to his friend the taxadermist for a little motification, take some pictures, wait for the tourists looking to spot this rare aquatic creature "with a human like face".
I am staying with otter. I hadn't thought about the zoom in a camera but on a second look the proportions - rocks and animal - tell me it is an otter. Wild mink don't get very big. Unless it is a ranch mink and is a hoax, the ranch-raised males can get pretty big. Sticking with otter.
ReplyDeleteThe body and teeth look like that of a mink. The animal appears to have been dead for long enough (white skin) where hair could be pulled out (as a hoax) or be rubbed off the rotting carcass from wave action and friction on rocks.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.skullsunlimited.com/record_variant.php?id=3792
Definitely the last one!!!
ReplyDeleteLOL - what a hoot you are. Thanks for the laugh.
I think the feet look more like the mink, but the overhead shot shows a wide nose. The otter has a wider nasal cavity than the mink. Either way, the mink and the otter are very close relatives.
ReplyDeleteCould pass for a creature from S.T.A.L.K.E.R.**
ReplyDeleteActually, even more so the creatures in that game since some of them seem more mythological than mutant like.
...ehh, maybe it died with its face in a puddle like it got waterlogged or something..... idk.
** S.T.A.L.K.E.R "mutants" google search: http://www.google.com/images?client=opera&rls=en&oe=utf-8&q=s.t.a.l.k.e.r+mutants&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=49z4S_3uNIGENo64rYQI&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CCEQsAQwAA