Help identifying this animal.

13 years ago

This was taken by my friend in Iowa and she said "It was way too big to be a fox. It was about the height of our lab mix dog. It's back legs were quite a bit longer than the front legs." It was eating out of a dumpster.

Here is a link that might be useful: another pic

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Comments (9)

christine1950
13 years ago
could be a coyote, they are showing up all over the country
User
13 years ago
Bad picture, but it's probably a coyote.
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Adawehi_Dikata
13 years ago
That is the trickster, a Coyote.
399music
13 years ago
This is a coyote..it rather a stray mixed one.. but i am sure that this is a coyote!.
TreyJ714
13 years ago
I've seen this animal in the woods and it was about 12 feet away from me.The hind legs were longer than the front, the leg bones weren't straight like canines. Its back was sloped down towards the front,It had a low growl like a raccoon with longer than normal teeth that were curved. I managed to chase it away by yelling at it. 5 years later I seen the same exact animal in a encyclopedia. It did have a scientific name and was part of a canine(fox) family. ???? I never had a chance to see that encyclopedia again. There are other details I remember about this animal and would like to discuss them with anyone who wants to. I seen this animal outside Cincinnati on the Great Miami river in 1987 after deer hunting it was dark and it actually approached me as i was walking out of the woods. To say the least I was frightened.
Tim
13 years ago
That is definitely a red fox. Another GW member had a similar question in GW with a photo of an animal that looks very similar to your mystery animal, except much clearer. I posted the link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: name that animal
greenthumbzdude
13 years ago
I second red fox, looks like it has mange
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
13 years ago
Leenie, your animal looks to be a coyote with a very bad case of mange. These sightings are not rare, with human development taking up more and more of the wild ranges of these and other animals.

Trey, I suspect that you might be thinking of the mythical chupacabra. Does that sound familiar? Carcasses of this suspected beast have been determined to be severely diseased coyotes. They become infected beyond recognition.
TreyJ714
13 years ago
Rhizo, I'm very familiar on what a Chupacabra looks like. This animal had a beautiful coat that was almost if not identical in color to a red fox. It was stout (not sick in any way)and shorter to the ground. Think of the shape of a RAT(wider and taller towards the back). I estimate its weight to be around 60 to 70 pounds. My earlier description of it's canines was modest. They showed even when not growling. Again this animal heard me walking quickly(lots of noise) thru the woods and came to me. I had visual contact with this animal for 2-3 minutes before I was able to scare it away with loud and large unhuman actions(I was scared). I grew up hunting and making money with trap lines during high school and I've caught a few red fox before. Again, I seen the same EXACT animal in an encyclopedia just a few years later. I remember it referring to North America as where they are found and it was part of a canine species. Somebody has got to have seen this also. Any help identifying this animal would be greatly appreciated. I'm going to continue looking at encyclopedias. Thank You. jamescooper@fuse.net