Maine Mutant Takes Down Website

The media attention was unabated on August 18 for this story, continuing late into the night for me with local television comments, scores of email inquiries & requests, and an interview on BBC News at 10:50 p.m. People wanted to have an answer to the "Maine Mutant" or "Mystery Beast" question, even when I told them there really is not one, but two parts here: the unknown large canid creature still out in the woods, uncaught, and the dead body off Route 4, which was most likely a strange, small feral dog.

As noted below, with our publication of the Sun Journal articles and links, as well as the story’s mentions on Boing Boing, The Anomalist, C2C, Rense.com, Fox News, and the Drudge Report, for starters, the paper’s website crashed on Thursday, August 17. Therefore, along with the links, here are their two articles for Friday, August 18, which examine news of the DNA testing, why there may be a continuing media frenzy, and let’s the game wardens explain their reasons for coming to take a look at the body. Also, the cartoon, "Maine Mutant" that you saw here first is now a tee-shirt, details following:

TURNER – Scientific tests are being performed on the remains of a mystery animal found off Route 4 over the weekend. Soon, the world may know exactly what kind of beast generated a buzz across the country and beyond.

According to experts in human behavior, the results of those tests might not matter. The label of mystery is not so easy to shake off.

"Having scientific evidence is not going to kill this story. It’s like an un-slayable monster that will keep coming back," said Elizabeth Eames, chair of the anthropology department at Bates College. "Humans like to categorize things. They like to fit them into neat, little boxes. Those things that don’t fit become sacred. They become sacred and profane."

Thursday marked new levels of interest in Turner’s mystery creature. More television and radio stations from around the country were interviewing local people about it. The Sun Journal Web site went down for a time because of the number of people clicking on it. A graphic artist in Ventura, Calif., designed a T-shirt with the face of a drooling beast and the logo "Maine Mutant" above it.

What began as an illustration contribution to Cryptomundo, this Mike Lemos creation is now on a tee-shirt that you can order by clicking on his name. Cryptomundo is not involved financially in this venture at all, and I am merely passing along this news for those, like me, that enjoy collecting examples of cryptoart for wearing or exhibition.

The mystery creature was the topic of conversation, not only in bars and coffee shops, but also in medical buildings, beauty salons and dentist offices.

For Eames, the hysteria accompanying the story was a bit amusing but not at all surprising. Things regarded as abominations have long been objects of intense scrutiny and fascination.

"Things that are not familiar to us become worrisome. It becomes disquieting and unsettling," she said. "But there is a certain level of pleasure in that. People approach this thing with trepidation, but they want to approach it. Fear is exciting."

That fact may be the cause of lingering debate about the true nature of the animal, Eames said. One person insists its a mere dog or other common animal, while another will passionately dispute that idea. The fact that there is no proof just yet only fosters the debate. "You can’t say ‘yay’ or ‘nay,’" she said. "The uncertainty feeds it all."

Michelle O’Donnell, the Turner woman who saw the creature alive a week before it was killed, has been at the center of attention for most of the week. She has described the animal as "evil" and strongly discounts theories that what she saw was a mere dog.

At the same time, dozens of people have written or called the Sun Journal to say they know, with no uncertainty, what kind of animal was found. One man sent along photos of his blue chow, which has similar features to the animal that died in Turner.

"Your mystery creature doesn’t look like much of a mystery to me," the Wisconsin man wrote in an e-mail. "Sadly, this is probably just a stray dog."

Loren Coleman, a leading cryptozoologist who has been investigating the Turner creature all week, is also familiar with the kind of hysteria that comes with reports of strange beasts. For nearly five decades, he has investigated sightings of legendary monsters like Bigfoot and the Yeti, as well as creatures few people have heard of.

Coleman on Thursday was not surprised by the speed and intensity with which the story out of Turner circulated across the rest of the world.

"It makes sense that this ‘Maine Mutant’ or ‘Mystery Beast’ event uncovered by the folks of Turner and highlighted by the Sun Journal would be a dynamite story," he said. "It has all the elements of the cryptozoological quest, with the possibility that the object of the hunt may have been within our grasp."

Whether the animal found in Turner on Saturday is a bona fide mystery creature remains to be seen. It also remains unknown if that animal is the same one that has been blamed for mauling dogs, screaming in the night and generally unnerving people for at least 15 years.

Sections of the Turner animal’s tissue are being sent off for DNA testing. But Eames reiterated that findings from the test may do little to quell the uproar about the beast in the Turner woods.

"This is uncertainty," Eames said. "And the uncertainty provides something that science cannot."

Photograph of the dead mystery animal’s dew claws, by Douglas Van Reeth, Sun Journal, used by permission.

GRAY – While speculation runs rampant about the "mystery" canine found dead Saturday along Route 4 in Turner, the Maine Warden Service is being deluged with phone calls about it and why the service chose not to respond. Warden Service Deputy Chief Gregg Sanborn in Augusta said late Thursday afternoon that Warden Rick Stone of Poland did the right thing when he declined to drive to Turner to inspect the remains. "He did what is expected of him by prioritizing what he goes to," Sanborn said. He said Stone was also correct in talking with the caller to get the animal’s description to ensure it wasn’t something other than a possible coyote.

"Back 20 to 30 years ago, game wardens
would remove a dead deer from the road so the public wouldn’t get upset. But the fact is, we don’t have the money anymore. Every time we roll a mile, it costs us 50 cents. Gas is at $3 a gallon, and we’ve been cutting back on warden costs," he added.

Additionally, wardens routinely field complaints about dead wildlife and domestic animals but don’t respond. They don’t, Sanborn said, because the Maine Warden Service is a law enforcement agency.

"Our main mission is to enforce laws. So, when we receive a complaint like that, we can’t afford to drive around to look at dead things. Removing a dead animal is not a warden’s responsibility," he added.

"When people have an issue, they expect the government to solve it for them. We’ve gotten a lot of calls referencing this. We’ve gotten a lot of flak about us removing the koi carp and not responding to this," he said of the Turner "beast."

Last month, the warden service seized 10 ornamental carp from a Freeport restaurateur because the fish are listed in Maine as illegal to own.

Of the koi, Sanborn said wardens got a complaint about a violation of law and did their job. The Turner complaint involved a dead animal, and no laws were broken.

Contacted Thursday afternoon in Gray, Scott Lindsay, a Maine wildlife biologist, agreed. Without knowing the stage of decomposition the canine was in when photographed, Lindsay said that from viewing photographs published in Wednesday’s Sun Journal it looked like the animal’s abnormal facial features were caused by cerebral edema, or brain swelling.

"It can make the ears look proportionally small, and all around the muzzle and head, it’s swollen up. So, it was probably a dog," Lindsay said.

Sanborn said decomposition can also curl an animal’s lip as the skin dries, revealing the teeth.

Still, Sanborn added, there is a certain situation where a warden would respond to a dead animal complaint.

"People have said for eons that there are cougars in the state of Maine, but there’s never been any proof. If this lady had called up and said a cougar got hit, and described a cougar, we probably would have gone," he said.

Loren Coleman 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.

Email • Facebook • Twitter •