Marley Woods Unknown Creature

Where are they?

Thanks for your efforts Ron, and please pass on our thanks to Ted.

With regards to the photo's, I think we'll have to wait for the high res ones as from the above picture its impossible to tell the size of that animal. Looks just like a dog or something from here.

I can't remember now, did Ted talk about DNA testing that hair?

So there is another photo of this creature on its hind legs standing upright like a bipedal?

If it is a dog it be a selective breed. The muscle tone of the animal or whatever it is can be clearly seen in the third enlargement photo that Ron posted. I doubt also the images are showing a Wolf like creature, mainly due to the obvious lack of hair. First impression it looks like a stray dog that perhaps wondered by that way and looked usual from a distance. I'll reserve a definite bias until I see clear pictures of this creature if and when they are posted.

Good work Ron,
The hair sample is interesting. If the microscopic image is from the hair on the barbed wire fence, that would be a good place to start investigating. The '400x magnification' shot looks to me like hair. Whatever's hanging off the wire doesn't look like hair...at least not as we know it. If Ted could focus his analysis on the hair, it seems to me that represents the best chance of conclusive evidence.

I recall the Trace Evidence used to have a few images of the white hair, but I remember it being shorter, softer and having more the appearance of sheep's wool.

Footprints and images are interesting, but the hair would be hard evidence. DNA sampling would be the next step?

Can't be sure but it looks more feline than canine including the tracks. Marley Woods is a bit far from the habitat of the north American cave lion (cougar) but it is not unknown to have some specimen straying hundreds of miles away from their normal region. The tracks are extremely consistent with a feline.
Cougar - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

North American Lion and its tracks

I have been living over 15 years in India and Africa so I've had some experience of seeing big felines in the wild and their tracks and it's what those shots make me think of. Not a big dog. I might change my mind when I see the bipedal posture picture but felidaes often stand up against trees. Ted should check the trees around the location of the picture for claw marks up to 9 feet high. I am not concluding anything here, just sceptically speculating...

Obviously the hair samples are not related to the creature in the pictures.

Hiya JC. That's interesting thinking about a cougar. I also had a look and they look like cougar prints...Animal Tracks - Mountain Lion (Cougar) - Puma concolor

One big problem is that cats don't leave nail marks when walking. One of those images has three very clear nail impressions like you'd see in dog tracks. The image of the animal looks to be the right colour for a cougar, but also looks too short in length. The tail looks docked like you'd find on an English Bull Mastiff...also that colour.

It's a puzzler isn't it!?

Don't forget the two might not be connected. The tracks could be a bear (google images*'bear tracks'*to see) and the other one could be a totally separate animal such as a dog or mountain lion. I don't have good knowledge of the local wildlife in this area so I don't know whether these animals are indigenous
*

Hi Kandinsky,
Actually I believe that in very soft or slippery soil they use their claws for grip, it's a reflex, and the toes are more spread out than on harder, safer grounds, just like in the pics. You can find several pictures of cougar tracks with visible claws on the net. The dog solution is still on of course. A specialist should be able to judge on this.

Hoffmeister, you're right I assumed that the creature and track pictures were related, thank for the comment.

A couple of things strike me:

1. 800 feet is roughly equivalent to 266 yards, or over 2 1/2 football fields in length. Visual observations at that distance are almost worthless. If you don't think so, go out to your nearest football field, stand in the endzone, place something the size of a large dog in the other endzone, and then imagine what looking at it at 2 1/2 times the distance would be like.

2. The pictures don't look all that impressive to me, and compared to the foliage behind the animal (and I'm sure that it's just some sort of animal), it doesn't look all that big. Certainly not something that I would characterize as "very large".

I would suggest that someone like Bruce Maccabee could have a look at these, and determine fairly quickly and easily what is in the photo, or at the very least the size of the animal. Has that been done yet?

I'm with Angelo - I'm surprised that if you have better, more sensational / amazing / paranormal photos, that you wouldn't send them first.

Paul

Hm anything else and agree with the Mountain Lion hypotheses or crossed dog of sorts.

Seriously--by my count the entire image of the object consists of about 30 pixels. We can't even say its an animal--it could just be wood or debris.
In the original interview only one image was mentioned.
The animal was supposed to be white with very long hair, giving the appearance of a polar bear. It was also supposed to be, at 500 lbs., very big (maybe twice or three times heavier than the largest dog or wolf on record).
And there was no mention of a (apparently unnamed) microbiology team either. Can we see their report?

I am embarrassed to ask but what is being shown in enlargement 1 and 2? I am not being sarcastic--I just don't see where they are in the photo.


Many thanks to Ron for posting this!

Lance

Interesting article/pages that may help with hair identification?:

Trace Evidence: Hair

Basic Structure of Hair

Deedrick - Forensic Science Communications - January 2004

Collection: Hairs Fibers