Mystery Animal Could Be Dog

Experts says legendary "hybrid beast" that roamed Maine was a wild canine.

Posted: August 19, 2006, 5 a.m. EST

An expert who examined the remains of a mystery creature that's believed to have roamed a county in Maine for about 15 years says the animal was probably no more than a wild dog.

For the past 15 years, residents across Androscoggin County, Maine, have reported seeing and hearing a mysterious animal. The creature has been blamed for attacking and killing a Doberman Pinscher and a Rottweiler in the past two years, as well as frightening locals.

On Aug. 16, author and crypto-zoologist Loren Coleman of Portland, Maine, examined the beast's remains and said he didn't know for sure what the animal was, but told a local newspaper he thought it was a feral Chow Chow or Chow-mix.

The animal was found near power lines along a state route on Aug. 12. It was apparently hit and killed by a vehicle while chasing a cat.

Before it was found dead, the creature had gained mythical status, with some who saw - or claimed they saw - the animal themselves. They said it looked like, among other things, a hyena, dingo, Tasmanian Devil, wolf, or the offspring of a coyote and a wild dog.