Giant Rabbit Attack? Update on Mohawk Incident

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Mr. Charles Kader of the St Regis Mohawk Tribe has forwarded this official press release, “Animal Attack on Vehicle – Akwesasne Mohawk Territory.”

Media Statement

St. Regis Mohawk Tribe

Environment Division

Subject: Reported Damage to Automobile by Unknown Animal: Sample Results

On Ennisko:wa/March 21, 2007 Mr. Adrian McDonald reported that his mother’s automobile had been severely damaged and that the Tribal Police and New York State Police had made an investigation. The damage occurred at the residence of Mrs. Edith McDonald, Cook Road, Akwesasne. Police initially speculated that an animal had caused the damage.

Mr. McDonald brought in several pieces of damaged parts that were stained with blood, and contained remnants of tissue and hair. The environment division collected several samples including more damaged automobile pieces stained with blood. Cotton swabs were used to collect blood and tissue samples. Photographs were made of the damage.

The photographs and samples were submitted to the office of Ward B. Stone, NYSDEC Wildlife Pathologist for examination. His initial examination indicated that a dog with powerful jaws and strong neck, such as a pit bull likely caused the damage to the automobile. The hair sample was determined to be that of a cottontail rabbit.

Mr. Stone has since detailed the most likely scenario to have been that a rabbit was the stimulus to the actions of a dog that resulted in the damage. The rabbit may either have taken shelter in the wheel well or was wedged after being hit by the car. In either case, the dog trying to get to the rabbit did the damage. Mr. Stone in his correspondence to the Environment Division stated, “It was a medium-sized dog with tremendous jaw and neck power. This [damage] and the tooth structures make a pit bull the likely source of the damage.”

This was an unfortunate occurrence that caused severe damage and loss to a community member’s property. If someone in the neighborhood is harboring the dog that caused the damage, the authorities ask that the owner step forward and take responsibility.Les Benedict, St. Regis Mohawk Tribe, Environment Division, Akwesasne, NY

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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.

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