Exclusive Photos of the Yardley Yeti
Posted by: Craig Woolheater on September 21st, 2006
Cryptomundo reader Jonathan Maberry sends Cryptomundo these exclusive photos of the Yardley Yeti that were taken by he and his wife.
Personally, I feel guilty using the name "Yardley Yeti", but that is what this creature has been dubbed by the press.
My wife and I took photos of the creature that’s being called ‘The Yardley Yeti”. It’s definitely not a fox, though it has some foxlike characteristics. Later this afternoon I’ll be posting my pics on my website. I’m an author and folklorist (with a strong interest in Cryptozoology).
Don Polec, a reporter for the ABC affiliate here in the Philly area interviewed me today and will be running the segment on the 6 o’clock news (Channel 6 in this area) tonight. I gave him a disk with copies of the pictures and he should be showing them tonight.
-Jonathan Maberry
Photo credit Jonathan Maberry and Sara Jo West. Used with permission.
Photo credit Jonathan Maberry and Sara Jo West. Used with permission.
Photo credit Jonathan Maberry and Sara Jo West. Used with permission.
Photo credit Jonathan Maberry and Sara Jo West. Used with permission.
It looks like a mangy red fox to me. What do the readers of Cryptomundo think?
Jonathan Maberry sent another photo of the creature near a vehicle for size comparison.
Photo credit Jonathan Maberry and Sara Jo West. Used with permission. Click on image for full-size version
Co-founder of Cryptomundo in 2005.
I have appeared in or contributed to the following TV programs, documentaries and films:
OLN's Mysterious Encounters: "Caddo Critter", Southern Fried Bigfoot, Travel Channel's Weird Travels: "Bigfoot", History Channel's MonsterQuest: "Swamp Stalker", The Wild Man of the Navidad, Destination America's Monsters and Mysteries in America: Texas Terror - Lake Worth Monster, Animal Planet's Finding Bigfoot: Return to Boggy Creek and Beast of the Bayou.
Mangy red fox. Just like you said.
This pic I found is a good one to compare with. Noting the shape of the legs and body.
And this pic.
Thylacine!!! Or mangy fox that needs to be captured and treated.
Yes, it is a fox with mange. I catch them all the time.
It looks like a mangy yeti to me.
Mangy red fox has my vote as well, although no one has ever seen a mangy yeti yet. Maybe this is what is under all that fur.
I agree red fox or maybe a dog but with the mange. Good grief, no animal control or game warden type to put this critter out of its misery.
Hmmm..lot of “mangy fox” comments. The animal I saw looked to be about 35-45 pounds, and probably 18-22 inches at the rear hips. This is horseback guess, of course, since I got no closer than about forty feet. Do foxes get that big?
Having had several of these in our neighborhood, it’s a mangy fox.
Come on folks, there is nothing in the pictures to give it scale. It could be 12′ long and 6′ high. With a ferocious mouth filled with razor sharp teeth. This may yet prove to be a Yetiesque creature at least in scale.
But it won’t because this is so obviously a small, sick fox. I agree that it needs to be captured and treated if at all possible.
The white tip on the tail would support a red fox identity for the pathetic-looking creature.
Okay. I defer to the fox experts. If it’s a fox with mange, then it must also have had a thyroid problem, because “small” is not an accurate word.
Not “large” either, mind you…but I’ve never seen a fox as big as a medium-sized dog.
But…as I say…if you’re fox experts, I defer.
“Come on folks, there is nothing in the pictures to give it scale. It could be 12′ long and 6′ high.”
How true! Those could be boulders instead of driveway-sized gravel!
I think a Fox in very poor health.
I just sent another pic to Craig. It shows the animal near the front of a car, which should give it scale.
If you still think it’s a fox, that’s good enough for me.
Before I even saw the rest of the comments I said to myself “red fox with severe mange”. Poor thing.
Ooh yes! A yeti!! Eat your words Chris Packham!!!!
Common human decency demands it be put out of its misery.
Last spring some people called me to trap the “huge fox” that snarled at them in their back yard.. (they didn’t notice its babies nearby) anyway.. These people swore up and down this thing was the size of a “golden retriever.” Took afew days but I did eventually catch it.. its mate and the kits. The largest one of the bunch (the male) weighed just over 11 lbs. (Now they all live out away from people.) Case in point, in chance encounters, especially if the circumstances are surprising or unexpected, animals really can seem larger.
–jeff
I have to defer to the fox experts here.
More obvious to see what it is not here. Yardley Cryptid not spicy enought for the media? They can do better, really, I just did.
It is obviously a sick animal, and really should be looked after by someone. But that is another subject, apparently
Hey! Somebody feed the poor thing!
Personally, I think that whenever (1) an unidentified monster like this is given a positive I.D. as some everyday run-of-the-mill creature, or (2) a hoax is revealed to be just that, then it should be labeled a “Yarwen”.
For example…
One Guy: “Did you see the photos of that Maine mutant on Cryptomundo today?”
Other Guy: “Yeah, it was only a Yarwen”
or
One Guy: “Did you see that Tom Biscardi has the leg of a Bigfoot?”
Other Guy: “Dominick, you fool, it’s probably just another Yarwen.”
Dried up, shriveled, sun dried Yeti. Or just a bad and ugly fox.
It’s The Yardley Yarwen!
Gosh I’d say a fox, but the tail is weird. I don’t know. Large paws for a fox too which makes me wonder maybe if this is a new species of fox.
It sure looks like a fox of some sort. Nothing too incredibly out of the ordinary.
To JonathanMaberry….
Regardless of its size, Has anyone you spoke with mentioned the possibility of getting this poor fella to the Aark? Its a wildlife rehabilitation center in the Newtown/Wrightstown area. I dont think they do rescues, but I think they take care of any wildlife thats brought to them and they are all voulenteers. I wonder if animal control is trying to do anything, this poor guy/gal either needs some TLC or to be put out of its misery.
half starved grey hound/cross
With the scale given by the car its most likely a red fox with mange.
Poor beast…sick, hungry, and desperate enough to venture out into the open in the broad daylight.
I hope there’s no kits relying on this pathetic creature….how very, very sad.
Hope they call the Aark to help it out.
If I can get by a GMC place tomorow I’ll see if I can’t identify and measure the bumper on that pontiac and see just how tall it was. The estimate of 18-22″ at the rear hips seems a bit high to me. The human eye is notoriously bad at scaling to size at distance. It’s why our eyes can be fooled so easily with art work. Hence measuring the bumper for direct comparison and scaling. However, the feet of this animal do appear large for a fox, though this could be a photo compression artifact from a .jpg file. I just can’t make out the foot pad. It could be a small mangy coyote but it looks like a red fox. (just a tip .jpg is terrible for storage of important information. If you open multiple instances of jpg format images in your photo editor and zoom in you’ll notice discrepencies in pixel placement. These are due to comp/decomp. .BMP or bitmaps are much higher quality and contain much more detail but they do take up more space. 35mm is preferable, and for scans, go with the bitmaps. oh yeah, once they’re in jpg it’s too late to swap back the data is lost.)
Yeti is such an unfortunate description.
Domestic dog with mange, it appears unafraid of close proximity to humans and is present in the middle of the day.
I didn’t think I had to say it – but seeing as the suggestion came up (somewhat tongue in cheek – I understand 🙂 ) … that ain’t no thylacine 😀
Chris.
notice any similarities here?
FOX…done, may we move on now?
Looks like a mangy fox, but if the size isn’t quite right for fox–then we have a mangy coyote that’s quite small as well. Poor thing.
I absolutely love it when people get all worked up over something as common as a sick mutt. If you want to see strange take a look at the .
Just look at the shape of the jaw vs. the size of the snout. Not to mention that its most mean looking canines are on the lower half of the mouth. I can understand wondering about that one, but not just some mangy fox. By the way, they said that the elmendorf beast was just a mangy coyote.
Hasn’t anyone noticed that the second picture is clearly different from the rest? Nevermind that it is obviously a canine and suffering from mange. But the first and subsequent stills are different from the rest. Albeit the second, which like the others doesn’t have a clear view of the white tip normally associated with a fox tail. The muzzle in the first photo and after the second photo appears much broader and darker than the second picture, also the shape of the cranium and back legs is different. In the photos with the darker broad muzzle, the back legs are longer when compared to those of the second. The fore legs also appear to be thicker in the second photo as compared to the others. I agree that is a canid suffering from mange, but on first viewing there ARE noticeable differences where people might jump to conclusions. The second picture IMHO is definitely that of a fox but the others aren’t.
It is OBVIOUSLY a red fox with mange. I have treated more animals for mange than I could possibly enumerate. That is mange. It is caused by mites. This one looks like it has sarcoptic mange, which can be treated.
Someone should trap it in a live trap, give it an injection or an oral dose of ivermectin, and rub it down all over with good old-fashioned Happy Jack Mange Medicine. Then release it in a protected area after it has recovered its fur.
An argument could be made for putting it out of its misery, but since it has a very treatable condition, treatment should be attempted.
Some sort of canid with a skin ailment. Looks a bit tall for a fox, but not too tall to be a coyote.
The ‘ratty’ tail and paw size difference can be explained by the near bald condition of the coat. Eyes use to a full fox coat will notice differences from the lack of hair.
This is most likely a young and very ill coyote – for sure NOT a fox!
Um, this is most likely photoshopped. And not very well. Sorry, I’m a graphic designer. I’d bet on it. The back legs are munged up with the background.
Pointless to comment on the obvious, but I do have a relevent comment. What’s the deal with all the mangy fox and coyotes lately? Are there actually more infected with mange out there than there used to be, or are they just being reported more now that CZ is back on the pop culture radar?
This Yarwen was yet another fine opportunity to hone our skills. On the subject of new word-use conventions, here are a couple more:
1) Googologist (noun)(Googology, Googological analysis, etc…) A researcher who relies on a quick Google search, particularly an image search.
2) Perez (as in ‘being a total Perez’) – A vigilante, mercenary, or anyone who fires shots at an unknown biped.
This is probably a fox, or perhaps a Basenji that has had a rough past few months. Being a Basenji, probably deserved (just kidding)
I just realized that the image with the car was linked to a larger version; I think we can say with some certainty that this unknown animal is faster than a Pontiac.
Really, I am rethinking the fox thing. The size of the paws and the general lankiness of this animal suggests a very hungy domestic dog puppy, possibly a shepherd (German or American) – maybe even a young coyote. But the feet are too big and legs too long relative to the rest of the body for it to be a fox. This is based on memory, though, and not a thorough Googological analysis.
Yes Mnynames! There are more cases of mange, this condition is caused by a skin parasite. As with most pest creatures the mild winters we have had of late has allowed thier numbers to explode along with mosquitoes and yellow jackets(note the giant sized yellow jacket colonies in Alabama)and every other pesky critter as well.
Not to mention the habitat loss going on around the country has forced these animals who normaly avoid humans to come into contact with us more frequently, thus the higher number of sightings. These animals are sick and thus not as frisky about becomming scarce, be they coyote or fox, though I’m positive this is a red fox. The ears, tail, and size make it unlikely to be any other animal. I also made a photo comparison to determine it’s size.
I identified the vehicle in the photo as a 2002 or 2005 Pontiac Grand AM. I measured both and found them to be identical enough for the purpose of the comparison. I then made a photo composite moving the animal to the front bumper with the actual measurements listed. The animal now shrinks to only 13-15″ at it’s “rear hips”(sic). I forwarded this photo composite to Mr. Maberry, as it is his photograph he holds the copyright and I don’t have any right to distribute it. If he decides to post it or forward it to Mr. Coleman or Mr. Woolheater, that’s up to him.
That poor thing is very sick and about to die. It’s skin is necrotizing, it’s dehydrated, its ears will start to crumble, it’s eyes are already in bad shape, and soon it’s gums will have receded so far that it wont be able to eat, it really is in miserable shape. If untreated it will die anyway, so someone local rescue or shoot it please. I think in it’s current condition DNR would understand.
That poor dog 🙁 It’s a dog with a serious health problem. There was a black bird in my garden the other day with a bald head, that means I can call it a yeti right?
“This is most likely a young and very ill coyote – for sure NOT a fox!”
No. I disgree. It IS a fox. Coyotes don’t have the white tail tip and black legs that this poor thing has. Nor do coyotes have such a gracile, cat-like body. This is a fox.
To people who have never seen a profound case of sarcoptic mange like this, it can make an animal look completely different than it did when it had fur. Carnivores, especially canids, usually have an underfur next to the skin which is a different color than the long guard fur that gives the animal its usual outward appearance. Many people don’t even recognize their own dog with its fur shaved off. Many times I have shaved down a collie, for instance, at the owner’s request, only to have them not recognize the dog when I led it out to them.
About 8 years ago, I took in a stray dog that looked just as awful as this poor fox. He was a sickly pinkish-gray all over, with a long, ratlike tail. There were just a few, mostly silvery-gray, hairs on him. The people in the next hollow thought he was a wolf. If I had not had German shepherds all my life, I would not have recognized him as that breed. There was not even enough hair on him to tell what color he actually was, except that he was probably not pure black or pure white. He was a great big dog; even though he was emaciated when I found him he weighed about 85 lbs.
I gave him injections of ivermectin every 2 weeks for 6 weeks, and applied Happy Jack Mange Medicine all over him. It is an all-natural, sulfur based product. The mange mites died and the dog’s fur grew back. He is now a beautiful black and tan German shepherd weighing about 108 lbs. But he could just as easily have become a Chupacabra legend if he had not been found and treated.
This is turning into another “Maine Mutant” type thing.
I agree, mystery_man .
The dog was a dog and the fox is a fox. Time to let Animal Control take care of the poor thing and move on.