What Was The Coatesville Creature?
Posted by: Loren Coleman on November 26th, 2007
Coatesville, Pa. – (AP) – A mysterious animal – described by witnesses as having a small head, a neck a foot long, the jumping ability of a deer and a scream like that of two cats – was reported prowling through Chester county woods today.
There were some who received the reports with skepticism, but Sylvester Scott, 31-year-old farmer, vowed he saw the what-is-it and three times had heard its eerie wail echoing over the countryside. Others said they had been “gunning” for it.
Scott declared the creature appeared one day in a field where he was spreading fertilizer.
“It stood two or two and a half feet off the ground,” he said. “It was colored like a deer in front, with white on the flanks. It had paws, remember, and not hoofs.
“It jumped just like a deer, about two feet up in the air. It had a very small head on the end of its neck, which was a foot long anyway. It was a fast runner, all right. It ran away from my dogs – beagles – and they didn’t seem to want to follow. Neither did I.”
Chamois
Springbok
One hunter said he thought it was a charmois [sic = chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra)], while others declared it might be some sort of a [sic] African Springbok.
“It screams only at night,” said Scott. “Once I fired my shotgun at the place where the noise was coming from, but it got away. Others have heard its wail, which does not seem to come directly from the monster itself, but issues in an unearthly scream all around you.”“Mysterious Beast Is Sought in Chester Co.”, Lebanon [Pennsylvania] Daily News, February 15, 1939
What do you think it was?
About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
Interesting. I’ve never heard of this one. Thanks, Loren.
I’ve never heard of this one either. This all happened in 1939, so I am wondering if there are any more modern day reports of this creature?
Hate to say it, but… a coyote with mange. It’s neck would appear longer, the head smaller, and would also account for the odd sounds. It would also explain the “paws” as reported!!
Apparently, mange is becoming the new black 😉
Just kidding squatch-toba. Actually it’s a very good hypothesis, considering how little we have to work with.
I’m guessing one of the camelids, escaped from the personal care of a visiting explorer or cicus performer;. Guanaco, or vicuna.
I’d say a cougar with mange. Their heads are longer than they seem, and it would account for the cat sounds, speed, and high jumps it was capable of.
thank you, loren, for the headline that made the article both seem interesting and pointed out that it wasn’t a current sighting.
this is exactly what i was hoping for in the mess i made a couple weeks ago.
🙂
What do you think it was?
I don’t know. But what ever it was, I’m sure it had mange.
It HAS to be an escaped circus animal with mange.
A skeezix? 😉
Better yet, an escaped BEAR with mange!! Nice! LOL 😉