Hyena in Mississippi?

A certain Tim McCary shared a game cam video with Loren Coleman which can be viewed at Cryptomundo.com.

Tim McCary of Mississippi has exclusively shared the following video with Cryptomundo. The creature caught with his game video cam was photographed last fall 2007, in southwest Mississippi. Specifically, it was taken in a place called “Anna’s Bottom,” just north of Natchez, Mississippi.

The video:

Google Video Link

Full Screen

I've seen a lot of hyenas in my life, and this animal has a striking resemblance to a male hyena. So why can't it be a hyena? Err... Technically speaking there shouldn't be any hyenas running wild anywhere in Northern America. Sure it can be an "escaped pet" (how many people do you know with hyenas for pets?). Perhaps some sort of regular dog?

Interesting nonetheless. We can only hope that we hear more about this, and that it doesn't disappear into the abyss of more unsolved mysteries.

Edit to add:
Shunka Warakin anyone?

[edit on 9-4-2008 by Gemwolf]

Nice footage Gem. But where is the first part?

My girlfriend voted hyena at once, and she's seen quite a few of them in Africa.. Personally I can see that it walks like a hyena and has traits that make it seem a hyena, but it looks quite non-robust to me? Its mange is quite small IMO, and its back is a bit low.

Im also not sure on the length of the legs - The front legs look just as long as the hindlegs, which is obviously not right. But agian, could be the pixelated footage...

And since it is Mississipi, I would expect it to be a canine of some sort.

That was my verdict.. Gotta love these kinds of footages!

Edit: Nah, its walk is not that of a hyena either.. Definately canine!

[edit on 9/4/08 by Thain Esh Kelch]

reply to post by Thain Esh Kelch


Many trial cams are set to "wait" a second or two before they start filming for the animal to come into the centre of the frame first. (My guess in this case.) Also most game cams are for the slower animals amongst us ( ), whereas this guy needs to be somewhere in a hurry...

I have to agree that this animal is a bit on the "skinny side" (or non-robust as you say), especially the legs are exceptionally thin (compared to a regular healthy hyena).

IMO the walk is close enough to a hyena... It could however be just a canine with a (hip) injury...?

That's weird. I was driving the highway between McMomb and Natchez one nite in Feb 08. I looked over and there was something that had skinny legs like a deer but broad shoulders and a head like dog. But it's face wasn't a dogs face, it was fierce and ugly. It was fast, came out of no where and ran along with my car for a few seconds.

I'm from Florida. Just work that area four times a year. That thing left an impression on me. I don't believe in anything. Ghosts, aliens, God. But I'll never forget how that creature made me feel.

The shape of its body and neck really is hyena. Its head is hyena too.

I found this through a wiki link. Very interesting, could it potentially be the same cryptid as the one captured on video?

Let us not forget that hurricane katrina destroyed many zoos and set numerous animals free...

reply to post by Gemwolf

reply to post by Grock


im with the both of you on this one.

my thoughts on this are:
assuming it is a hyena would it not be smaller or thinner living in missippi posibly due to diet change?

im thinking hyenas are "pack" hunters or scavengers?
this one appears to be alone, so there is the possiblity there is a lack of protine in its diet.

edit: although i am leaning more toward ferral dog with an injury on one sort or another.

just my thoughts.

[edit on 15pmu112007 by DaleGribble]

Okay. I'm usually a skeptic to oddball claims. Buuuut... I've been looking at hyenas for years now (favorite animal, yay!) and... Well... I'd have to say that yes, that creature is indeed a spotted hyena. There's not very many animals with htat sort of build.

Very interesting! A zoo escapee is unlikely - zoo escapes are usually well-documented and recaptured in short order. However it could be someone's released pet.

It's a wild dog. We have a few packs that roam the mountains. They killed one of our smaller dogs years back.

Wild dogs don't look like domesticated animals, they get much leaner and nastier. This specimen in the video looks to have a huge neck which is more about his breed than his species. The short tail also looks like a Hyena but many dogs carry the same trait.

Looks like a dog with mange to me....check out the picture... this was also claimed to be a chupcabra in Texas.....but this picture closly represents the video. I say it is a wild dog with mange

[edit on 9-4-2008 by kdial1]

Well, I did some image mongering....

First of they look quite similar. Bottom picture from this footage:

But I still don't believe it to be a hyena, due to the way it walks and its posture in general:

Notice how the back of our mystery creature is pointy, while the hyenas have a straight back, even when their head is tilted down. The mystery creature has a back that points upward in the middle of the back.

Look at how the creature walks too, it has a kind of 'jumping' way of walking, just like small dogs.

Second of all, a hyena has a 25-36 cm long tail, that doesnt behave like our creatures tail:

When a hyena's tail is carried straight, for example, it signals attack. When it is held up and forward over the back, the hyena is extremely excited. In contrast, it hangs down when the hyena is standing or walking leisurely. If frightened, the hyena tucks its tail between the legs and flat against the belly and usually skulks away.

You see how a casual hyena has its tail between its legs. The creature in our footage is definately not hunting, but just 'walking along' - Ie. its also casual.

Or of course, it could be this bad baby...

[edit on 10/4/08 by Thain Esh Kelch]