the "hyote" tag seems pretty fair...maybe it's just a cross-bred mutt.

And that's precisely what that is: a juvenile brown bear with really bad mange. Poor thing. Looks as if she hasn't been feeding too well; I guess a can of cat food a day doesn't go far to feed a growing bear.

i'm glad to read that people aren't freaking out about it; and no one seems averse to feeding it.
here's hoping she does okay.

The animal in question though in the photos has a tail and a fairly long one at that. Brown bears do not have tails last time I checked. And living in Alaska, I see enough of them on a regular basis to never have seen one with a tail. :)

Who knows what they're hiding under all that fur they usually have ;)

Animals can look quite weird without their fur. It's head definitely looks like that of a bear, same broad long snout and stuff.

I can see some resemblance in the facial features/cranium build to a bear, but the neck and shoulder structure is way off. The neck is too long in this case. For either a black bear or brown. :)

another alert reader has emailed the news station that ran the story, with links and suggestions along these lines. hopefully the poor thing will get some help ... and like i said, at least people aren't shooting at it or anything.

Do bears have tails?

Yes, they do.

looks like a mangy hyena.

but in maryland?
more likely a bear, i bet.

Oh I based this on the web page pics. Now that I see yours, it looks like an undernourished mangy baby bear.

The web page pics and the pic that cmpriest posted were two different strange animals.

The "hyote" is the one on the web page. The baby bear with mange is the picture she posted.

:-)

poor animal. it looks pitiful.

except that I've never seen a bear with a tail that long, either.

Otherwise, yep- bear with mange. Poor baby. :(

The tail throws off for me to agree with the bear theory but yes I agree it could have mange.
I am wondering if it is a hyena that some one had as an illegal pet that has gotten loose with mange.

Perhaps it is a hyena escaped from somewhere. Honestly I have never seen that kind of tail on a bear. I wonder if any zoos or anything like that is missing him. Or maybe it is someone who had it illegally and so won't report it missing.

The tail just doesn't say bear to me.

that's what we all said about the black bears in the ocala national forest; but they've got those straggly tails - they can't be bears! but that's what happens when they lose all that hair ... tail looks longer. and i think that the fellow roaming around maryland is probably a young 'un.

i may well be wrong; i just thought it was worth checking out.

Well I guess that is true... young bears have longer tails than big bears but that tail is like 18 inches long by the looks of it. And really I am not sure that hyenas have tails that long either.

yes, but THAT long? its well over a foot long. Could be, but the face also looks a bit more... doggy.

Certainly a good idea, and sounds like people are letting the right authorities know it :)

as one alert reader suggested, maybe a large red fox?
i don't know. i just figured mange + ordinary animal = people freaking out, because they're not used to seeing critters without their fur.

thank you very much!
i might be wrong, in fact the odds are rarely with me when i speculate like this, but i think it's a reasonable theory. i was very glad to read that people weren't freaking out about the animal, and were leaving it in peace.

Hard to tell the size, but I could easily see it being a mangy coyote, since they can be pretty tame if around people, like the coyote population in L.A. and will eat just about anything (like cat food).

If bears have tails, then I could see it being a bear with mange. I'm surprised no one has given that as a theory in their area already. Then again, I guess living in Florida and hearing about them last year... I have a little more insight. Never heard of a hairless bear before then.

It's shoulder/head area resemble a hyena, but really - the hind legs are FAR too long for that.

The tail is what throws me off.

Looks like a hyena/dingo mix... not very impressive. Besides how mysterious can it be if you can get pictures of it that good? Look at nessie and the ol' Jersey Devil... lol.

Think red fox with mange and I think you have your answer.

ooh - also a good idea.
i just thought the mange + ordinary animal of some variety was the most obvious answer, and the only thing i could think of was the bears in Ocala.

Compare this shot of a Maryland red fox to these shots of the mystery animal. Ears are the same size, body type is the same, tail is the right length, as well as coloration of the animal's muzzle and remaining fur.

The fact that it is ok around cats and dogs suggests that it could be a domestically raised fox. But I am putting my money on a fox with mange.

There was a similar "what in the heck is that" story from near Greensboro, NC that I posted in my journal a while back. It's since been moved to the Greensboro News & Record's archives, so I can't point you to it...but a hairless fox was one of the theories.

From the pictures, it looks like a mangy fox or a very sick stray dog to me. I've seen dogs get so ill with skin diseases that they barely resemble their healthy selves at all.

Either way, it's apparently not well. :-(

Is it just me or does that look like Prof. Lupin in the Prisoner of Azkaban? It looks like they pasted a bear's head on... uh, something unnatural.

train of thought... derailing...

I disagree about the whole bear thing!! I think there is maybe and escaping hyena and there is one main zoo in maryland in baltimore cause I live 45 mins away from there! I think it kinda looks like a hyena and grey hound dog mixed and the only way that it's a hyena is if someone illegally had it or there is an illegal zoo! This animal could be comin near me if I see it or hear more I will post more! It's a very weird looking creature and all and that is my thoughts about it!!! :)

After looking at the photos, my vote is for an escaped hyena. Any zoos in Maryland?

none that are missing any exotic animals.
they already checked that possibility.

I live in Harford County, Maryland, rather close in fact to Baltimore. I have seen many foxes in my life, skinned ones as well, the Hyote is NO fox. I have also seen a Black Bear (the only ones we have in MD, and they live in Western MD anyways), bears do not have tails that long. It's facial features closely recognize that of a hyena, though obviously does not have the bone structure to be one. It is obviously of canine descent judging by his bone structure, rather than the feline structure associated with foxes. It is a new breed of creature, as more have been discovered, and I hope they move up North! Yay for Hyote's!

Random reader dropping a comment:

Tough as the pictures are to make out, it appears to me that the critter is digitigrade. Bears are plantigrade.

I vote fox. It's the right size, yes?

i agree as far as it being digitigrade, but i think its muzzle is too short and rounded and a bit bigger around than a red foxes. i'm not sure though.

like someone else said, i'm guessing its just a sick, mangy dog.

i was under the impression it's a bit big to be a fox, but that's my guess too now.

I thought I would just point out the obvious. It looks exactly like a Xoloitzcuintli (show-low-eats-queent-lee) or more commonly known as a "mexican hairless" dog. Although it might not be a pure breed im pretty sure it decended from that sort of animal. It shares many characteristics of the Xolo. It is usually seen in broad daylight, Xolos are known to sunbate. It is seen grazing in yards, Xolos are naturally vegetarian. The name "mexican hairless" is really just a general term used to describe the breed. Only a certain percentage of the pups are born hairless (depending on the gene pool), the rest either have full coats of hair, or misplaced/irregular hair growth. The standard Xolo would be capable of reaching sizes of 30-40 lbs.

I WANT ONE :D.

It looks a little like a tasmanian tiger. But they are extinct here ;p

Thylacine, I believe is the scientific name.

Whatever this creature is, it is NOT a "hybrid" of coyote and hyena; coyotes are of the Family Canidae and hyenas are of the Family Hyaenidae. Hyenas are more closely related to mongooses and cats than to dogs. A hybrid animal has two parents of the same Genus but of different species, such as a mule (horse mom Equus caballus and donkey dad Equus asinus) or a coydog (coyote mates with dog, Canis latrans and Canis familiaris).

On a sidenote: while foxes are of the Family Canidae, they are NOT in the Genus Canis, but Vulpes. Foxes are neither cats nor dogs but share common traits of both.

Simply from the pictures, my guess is that this is a mongrel dog with a severe case of mange. Being a dog groomer, I have not only seen some serious skin conditions, but some extremely ODD dog breed combinations, sometimes resulting in a dog that does not even look like a dog! Domestic dog genetics are highly complex from generations of breeding for specific types, but if left to mate uncontrolled, dogs begin to "revert" to a common type, a medium sized animal with large bat-like ears, triangular but blunt muzzle, and usually a curled tail. This is the "prototype" dog, which resembles the African Wild Dog quite closely (altho the domestic dog is descended from wolves, not wild dogs). This animal looks a LOT like the Thai Ridgeback, which is a breed that is a "prototype" or "pariah" dog.

I own a dog that's a Chow mix that greatly resembles this so-called unknown critter. Bat-like ears, long tail, large head. Mine has suffered from mange, too. When he had demodectic mange, it made the skin on his face somewhat thickened and wrinkly, causing his head to look even larger.

Since cruel people regularly dump their unwanted pets in the country, I betcha anything it's a dumped dog.

To me it looks like a boar. {No doubt from Tennessee;)}

it could be a hyena. there are hyenas here in manitoba canada they exaped from a game farm. ive evan seen one. it's definiataly not a bear, or a hyybred of a coyote and a hyena it cant be. or it could be an extremely mangy coyote. ive seen coyotes with no hair before. especially in the winter.