Need help IDing strange critter in the lower Appalacian foothills

Well if they're related events then the creature is intelligent.

Typically laying out kills like that is a "peace" offering to you so you should have taken them away.

Humans seem to be the only ones who kill like that with the intention to scare as in the wild, food is precious.

Like posters here have mentioned, felines do this as a sign of nurturing and sasquatch are also known to do this as a friendly gesture.

Either way, I wouldn't take this as a threat unless it's connected to human activity.

reply to post by UnderGetty

You have no idea how interesting that suggestion is. Thank you.

TheRedneck

reply to post by TheRedneck


Hey Redneck, do you have badgers in your area?? Or if you are far enough north perhaps wolverine?

I'm not sure which area you live, I gather farm(ish) land, but a state or province should be enough to try and narrow down your search.

Badgers are fairly recluse animals and tend to avoid people, but can be quite territorial if disturbed, wolverines on the other hand are nasty #ers and if you keep rabbits he could be looking for a meal.

I find it extremely odd, that a bunch of woodland critters were found arranged in such a way, reminds me of the barn cats "presents."

Can you try to get the misses to give a more in depth description?? I didn't understand the horse comparison.

Just for #s... was it one of these buggers??

reply to post by Glassbender777


so pretty much a bear with a tail. A lot of jeuvenile black bear up hear appear almost dog like in the face.

reply to post by mistressofspice


There aren't too many domestic dogs bigger than wolves where I'm from. This isn't to say there aren't big domestic dogs, it's just the wolves dwarf pretty much every breed I know ha ha. Make Rotties look like #zus. Canadian wolves are freaking massive, so your description of a big black wolf isn't that surprising.

en.wikipedia.org...

140ish pounds of nightmare.

reply to post by ValentineWiggin


mountain lion and cougars only really scream when in heat... Foxes scream.. lol



Yotes scream




cougars make noises like this when in heat.



How ever being an ambush predator they tend to keep pretty quiet, but they can let out a meaty roar, and do growl with a deep gutteral sound.

(more in heat)

I only read through the first section so I don't know if you answered this question, but what state are you in? I didn't notice it in your original post.
I've heard reports of an animal that has been killing other animals but not eating them in both West Virginia and North Carolina. Most recently in North Carolina and I don't know when it was happening in West Virginia. It's possible someone released an exotic animal in the area and it's running around. Make sure your wife is aware of that possibility and carrying a weapon.

First there must be certainty that it was not a bear, or other commonplace animal that simply looked a bit funny due to certain conditions, or whatever else. IF those things can be dismissed with absolute certainty, there is not much left. Although some people still fail to believe, and even mock the truth, sasquatch/bigfoot is a real animal. Sasquatch is probably responsible for the vast majority of monster myths and legends across North America. The monster of so and so, the beast of so and so, etc...

I can tell you from personal experience that witnessing one of these animals up close can cause a surge of various emotions, including fear. What I felt was a primal instinct almost, and there was no question as to what I was looking at, and the issue was settled for me on that day. Luckily for me though, I had already been researching the subject, and was somewhat prepared to handle what I saw. Others are not so fortunate. There are grown men, formerly avid hunters, who still refuse to go anywhere near the woods after having an encounter. THAT is the kind of "beast" we are talking about here. But they are not really dangerous to humans it would seem, although they very well could be if they wanted.

Anyway, in your particular case, it is entirely plausible that the failure to recognize the animal was due to the fact that it obviously was not something normal. And if the view was not absolutely clear, or if the shadows and light affected the view, the animal could easily have appeared even more strangely. It is true that many who have an encounter get a good enough look to know what they saw, even if they know relatively nothing about bigfoot. But many times an obstructed view leaves a bit of lingering doubt.

I am not saying that this is definitely what was seen in this instance. I am just pointing out that it is not only possible, but probable IF the animal was not an 'ordinary' one. I do not think there are any other monsters of this sort in North America, and bigfoot is not really a monster, simply an undocumented primate. It actually can be quite frustrating even mentioning the possibility, because of the closed-mindedness and ignorance of a great number of our population. But people don't have to take my word for it, even though I am certain as to what I saw. The thousands of others who have witnessed these creatures and filed reports can attest to the reality of these animals. Not to mention the fact that there are probably many more people who never report their encounter to anyone, for various reasons, including fear of ridicule.

In fact, the more prominent the witness, therefore the more credible in the mind's of many, have much more to lose by talking about an encounter. Yet we still have very prominent witnesses coming forward. Everywhere from politicians, police officers, military special forces, doctors, vets, etc.

Think i'm going to go with the bigfoot story as well. With the size and weird arrangement of dead animals it has to be something with some higher intelligence. Maybe your furry friend will make a peaceful appearance. Hope it doesn't terrorize your bunnies too much!

Originally posted by TheRedneck
reply to post by Char-Lee

I'm thinking the deer just happened to walk by a few days before whatever-it-was killed the rabbits and squirrels. The two might not be directly related; I was going on the assumption that they might be.

I still want to see this thing for myself, but the deer story works for now unless something new comes up.

TheRedneck

Sure hate the idea of something killing like that right where your wife goes alone, hope she keeps safe.
Always feels best to find the odd and unusual is just the normal and explained.

Originally posted by TheRedneck

A couple days later the rain let off for a little bit and she hurried back to get more fresh grass. This time she found a wild rabbit with its head severed cleanly, uneaten.

Today she returned to tell me she had found several animals, rabbits and squirrels, arranged in a rough semicircle with their heads severed cleanly and uneaten. They were located about midway of the field... common territory for rabbits, but squirrels stay closer to the treeline.

Members of the weasel family will kill multiple animals without consuming them.
Typically it is a full grown but still relatively young animal that gets excited and just keeps killing.
Minks, otters, weasels, martens, badgers, wolverines, ferrets, ermine...abut 65 different kinds worldwide.
Even one from Africa called a zorilla.
They range from 1-2 ounces for the least weasels all the way up to 90 pounds for the giant river otter.

reply to post by AthlonSavage


If I was going to go look for whatever's behind that, I think I'd want a very big gun...and maybe a Marine Force Recon battalion for backup. I've read stories on other boards that I think might tie into that phenomenon (assuming these stories are true), and while nobody's put a finger on what exactly it is yet, it's smart, it's fast and it's strong.

Originally posted by FreeFalling
Just a thought-- Could it be a wild boar--
They are getting heavily populated
Peace
FreeFalling

At first I thought that, but when he said the heads were left, I decided against a Boar. Hogs will eat everything, hair, bones, brains...everything.

reply to post by ShadeWolf


be equipped like Blade. Cross bow, pistols, shot gun. A Thompson machine gun with a thermal camera mounted on end. Hunt the beast solo.

come to Daddy weird Zombie beast freak!

Don't you live in the part of the state that has a lot of cattle mutilations also? I was thinking you did.

reply to post by Hijinx

No, we have more coons and possums around here, with the occasional armadillo lately. None of those are even close to the size of what she saw. Best guess right now is 4 1/2 feet at the shoulder.


reply to post by thesamelight

It's in my location: Alabama


reply to post by napayshni57

You're referring to Fyffe Alabama. It's maybe 45 minutes from me.

So far as I know, we haven't had any cattle mutilations in this area though. Whatever is in Fyffe seems to like it there and I like the fact it does... the less things eating cows around here, the more for me.

TheRedneck

Update:

It rained really heavy yesterday evening, so I didn't expect to find any tracks today, and I didn't. I did take a look at the area. The kills were located across the field from the sighting, about two-thirds of the way up towards the treeline. The sighting was on the other side of the field, pretty close to the road. There was no obstruction between her and it, and the sighting was in broad daylight.

This morning she pulled grass from close to the road. She didn't see any more kills or the critter, but the dog kept going to the treeline and growling. That could be just a deer. Oh, and one of our dogs is missing... probably roaming for a female, but I am mentioning it just in case.

I also searched for tracks close to the sighting this afternoon, but didn't have time to go into the mountain today... maybe tomorrow or this weekend. My neighbor has his driveway along that side of the field, no fence, so I am assuming it came from the road through his driveway. Across the road I found a well-used animal trail that opens onto the road right across from the driveway. I walked just off the road and saw plenty of deer tracks, but nothing else. The ground is well-covered with leaves in that area, so I really wouldn't expect to find many other kinds of tracks there anyway; deer hooves can punch through a leaf cover easily while pawed animals tend to not do so. I found no tracks next to the road, so it is a safe bet nothing came through since the rain.

There is a problem with the deer story: the length of time it just stood there looking at my wife, and the casual way it left. A deer will not stay around where there is a human, and even if it did, it would leave like a shot when it felt threatened. If not threatened, it was standing in the middle of a well-grown hay field and would likely have grazed during the several minutes she saw it. It didn't.

I will say this: I have an idea of what it could be, but I am loathe to say it here. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof, and thus far I do not have any such proof. I do have every intention to keep searching for proof however, regardless of where that proof leads.

Again, thank you to everyone who posted in this thread, whether or not I responded directly. I am reading all posts and considering all possibilities. There have been some posts which gave me hints as to what it could be, so please keep the ideas coming.

TheRedneck

reply to post by TheRedneck


Was this thing standing on four feet, or two like a bear does at times? Could she see any other details? Tail length, if there was one, ear shape, limb size, etc? If she can draw at all, is a simple sketch possible? Did she personally feel this thing was threatening? Could she see eye shape, or any teeth at all? I know a lot of this isn't probably known, if this thing was too distant, but the more details, the better the chance of some sort of identification.

The arrangement of the animals is very strange! No usual predator would do that. One would not kill that many at a time, and certainly would not leave them all uneaten. That almost sounds like a gift. Some sort of attempt at communication, in any case. This leads to another question; was she able to sense any intelligence in the gaze? Very subjective, I know, but possibly quite relevant. I don't want to jump to conclusions, but that rough arrangement of the animals has to be a work of intelligence. Human, maybe, or Bigfoot. There, I believe they are not simply animals.

In any case, does she know how to uses a gun? Carrying one, just in case, wouldn't be a bad idea. Maybe a tougher dog, too. Though, it's a fact that even tough ones have been known to freak out at places where BF is supposed to have been.

Hope you keep us posted; very interesting case!

Originally posted by TheRedneck
*snip*
About two weeks ago, my neighbor was leaving for work around 5:00 AM and looked across the field from his yard. He saw a green car, he described it as one of the wanna-be musclecars from the 80s, parked across just out from that field in a smaller one. There is a culvert with a gate there that had been left open, and where he was parked would have been invisible from anywhere except the end of my driveway or my neighbor's house next to the field. He reported a single male (unable to determine if there was a passenger) walking back to the car from the direction of our place. He got in and took off. My neighbor tried to catch up to him to get a better description but couldn't... knowing how the guy can drive and the area, he had to pull off in another hidden spot. I closed the gate and a couple days later put a lock on it. The day after I put the lock on, someone saw a green car driving back and forth, slowing and looking at the gate. I know someone had opened the gate between the time I closed it and the time I installed the lock; the chains were wrapped differently.

*snip*
TheRedneck

Oh, interesting! Definitely, she needs to carry a gun! The thing she saw might have nothing to do with the animals, and that could be ritualistic. There was a place where I used to live, that was ruins, supposedly haunted, and some people actually sacrificed animals there, with Satanic symbols and everything. Add, again, tougher dog! The critter might not worry, but some creep would!

Originally posted by AthlonSavage
missing 411..this thing could be responsible for human dissappearances, if you go looking for it be armed with firepower.

Could not help thinking about that myself!

Originally posted by TheRedneck
reply to post by Frogs

I just asked her those questions:

Tail: she didn't notice the tail. I am assuming that means it was not prominent.

Ears: Small, upright, similar to those of a deer. She also said it trotted with a similar gait to a deer. Are there black deer? I've never heard of one.,..

TheRedneck

I never heard of a black deer...but then, till recently, I never heard of black squirrels, either. Have seen one of those myself, and hubby has seen several. If I can locate the pic I took, will post.


Ah, see she thinks it's a black deer. That would be something! The animals still are an issue, though! Two mysteries for the price of one!

I think its a sick person with a have-a-heart trap and a monster suit who is trying to creep out your wife. Animals don't "cleanly sever anything off. they rip and tear. A creepo with a knife makes clean cuts, and than displays his handy work where he/she knows your wife will find it the next time she goes out there. Too creepy and cheesy to be an animal IMHO! Id make a report in the interest of saving animals in the area from what I believe is a ridiculous person.

Originally posted by Glassbender777
I saw a black creature 2 years ago while hunting, about the size of a bear, but it moved like a mnt lion, the head was like a giant dog, it was very muscular with a long tail. It was not a mnt lion because supposedly mnt lions are not black in north america, and it didnt look like one, much bigger and more like a dog Very scary, to say the least. my friend was with me at the time. we have found deer with massive claw marks across the body, but it hadnt been eaten. strange.

If not for the location, could you believe it was a black jaguar? Very possible those are roaming about unrecognized! Much larger, too, than a cougar. When the authorities won't even admit cougars are everyplace they are, you know they would not admit jaguars were!