No Silly Season, Just Dog Daze
Posted by: Loren Coleman on August 21st, 2006
Click on image for full-size version
Photograph by Michelle O’Donnell. Used by permission.
On Monday, August 21,2006, Judith Meyer, editor at the Sun Journal in Lewiston, Maine, took a few moments to ponder the seven days that had just gone by. In her article “The Dog Daze in August,” she writes, in part:
Last week was beyond weird. The public clamor for stories and photos about the mystery creature in Turner was so intense, the Sun Journal Web site couldn’t keep up and crashed. The switchboard was busy with media requests from around the world, and researchers and experts in all things mysterious kept up a steady stream of offers to help identify the beast.
As the week wore on, interest intensified.
There’s a local group that regularly gathers to hunt these creatures across the state. They’ve never been successful in their hunt, but do report seeing animals with glowing eyes in Maine’s woods.
People report seeing a blonde creature in Poland very similar to the one photographed by Michelle O’Donnell. If there’s two, there’s probably more.
On Saturday, a group of people had planned to search the woods for whatever skull remained of the beast in an attempt to sell it on eBay. The closest place that sells dry ice is Elm Ice and Oil in Falmouth – hope they stocked up before the search.
At last word, they didn’t find anything and the quest goes on. Of course, I think someone might have that skull already as a personal trophy on their mantle. Reporter Mark Laflamme and I talked last week about how we figured someone would have the idea of going on eBay with that skull if they found it, even though we merely wanted to find it ourselves to help identify whatever this “Mystery Beast” might be.
Click on image for full-size version
Photograph by Michelle O’Donnell. Used by permission.
Meanwhile, in the same issue of the paper, Mark talked about “Merchanising the Beast,” so there’s a few things to say about that elsewhere at Cryptomundo today.
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.
enough is enough let the poor dog rest in Woof
I still say it’s a werewolf. I looked at the photos alot of times, I know I sound ridiculous. The animal looks like something out of a fable story. The eyes are what is bothering me the most, very sinister appearance. A very small maybe perhaps compact animal I think that could defend itself. Remember out there in the woods there is alot of mysterious things so who knows? I respect everyone’s opinion and observation, you all have good ideas on what kind of animal this is. Maybe they will do a dna on this animal and prove what kind of hybid dog this is.
Any animal that has been dead a long time looks odd. I doubt that this is anything more than a normasl dog, or MAYBE a hybrid. It’s eyes are messed up because it’s dead, as are its lips and other skin that appears ‘blue’.
I’m sick of hearing about this thing. It’s not a mystery animal or a mutant. It’s a normal animal that got loose or suchlike.
Forget about it! There is nothing odd about a dead dog.
I have to agree the strangeness of the eyes is in all probability because the animal is dead. I have some experience around a chow chow mixed, but from everthing I have seen i am starting to think a clow/akita mix, perhaps with a third mix to bridge the two breeds. If there is wolf in there, Hopefully the DNA reesults will tell.
I still find it interesting this has gained so much attention with all the hulabaloo over the breaking news in the Ramsey case. I have seen no local mention on this poor doggy yet.
nothing odd except the strange claws loren talked about. I’m still saying, at least, that this animal is related to an akita, whether we are talking coming from mixed parents (akita and something else) or saying that we might be seeing another branch off the akita ancestry. Remember the japaneze, who bred this dog to hunt and kill bears, really don’t know where they came from. The folklore says akitas are a cross between a large cat and dog, after all the akita can retract its claws.
Hey everyone, new member here. Love the site. Lots of good info.
Anyways about the “Dog” like creature, I live in Maine and its definitrly created a huge buzz throughout the state.
I still think the real mystery beast is out in the woods somewhere, because I don’t think the animal photographed is capable of mauling a Doberman And Rotty (despite the advanced age the 2 animals).
P.S. Loren you’re the man, keep up the good work!
Hmmm I am not really what sure all the TADOOOO is about. I mean if I walked up on the body of the poor animal I cannot see myself identifying the body as anything other than that of a dog. Perhaps feral, but thats about as “strange” as it gets. Unless this thing has gills or actual horns or human eyes.
Hi. Cool website. I’ve been lurking for a month or two. If I’m an expert on anything, it’s dogs. I dunno. I’d thought from the beginning that the animal looked like a dog. I’d bookmarked this website a couple months ago, and just came across it again. It’s all about polydactylism in dogs, including all the breeds (including some that have never set foot in America) that are required or are allowed double dewclaws in their standards. More importantly, it talks about the different forms that polydactylism can take. It might help you in identifying that foot.
The Lundehund is a very rare breed in America, and really looks very little like the “beast.” But it is a nordic breed like the “beast” (upright ears, curled tail, etc.). It is also known for it’s very odd digits: oftentimes many extra toes, etc. The other one on that page, that barely resembles the mystery animal, is the Icelandic Sheepdog (misnamed Island Shepherd on that page). Also a Nordic breed, they can be darker colors than pictured there. Both breeds are in America, though extremely rare.
I’m still voting for a Chow mix, but thought that page might be helpful.
I can’t believe a dead dog is getting this much attention.
I find it very curious (and a little bit funny) how many people here are baffled by the hype this has gotten. What they are missing is that this is a great example of a typical cryptozoological sighting. At its foundation, this event is exactly the same as any other monster or Bigfoot sighting:
A person sees something he or she cannot immediately identify, and the person (or later cryptozoologists, as I describe in an appendix to my book Lake Monster Mysteries) conclude that the beast is an unknown creature or cryptid.
The logical flaw in this case (and in Bigfoot, lake monster, and other cryptid sightings) is that just because a creature can’t be immediately identified by one or more people under a specific set of circumstances, does NOT mean that someone else might not know exactly what the creature is. Just because one person cannot explain a sighting does not make it unexplainable.
The only difference is that we actually have a carcass to (presumably) positively identify, unlike Bigfoot, chupacabras, etc. If this animal had just been glimpsed as it bounded into a wooded area and not caught (or later found dead), it would remain a mystery monster to be written up in future cryptobooks.
Smart cryptozoologists and monster enthusiasts will use this case as an object lesson in the ways that people can “create” monsters because of misperceptions or logical fallacies.
Hi everyone!
I live here in Maine, and I agree it’s a Chow. I’ve owned five over the years, the reds, blacks, and blues all have blueblack colored skin, gums, and tongue. It’s probably not a pure bred, thus the shorter hair and slimmer legs (although there is a smooth aka short haired chow).
What Mr. Radford says in post #10 sums it all up brilliantly.