Oct 31, 2007

Heated Debate

This photo was taken by a motion-activated hunter's (Rick Jacobs) camera in Pennsylvania's Allegheny National Forest (US).

It has sparked some heated debate. Could it be the legendary Bigfoot? Mr. Sasquatch himself? Or is it a bear with a skin disorder? Or is it my ugly little brother out trapsing after dark like we've warned him not to do?

Photo source: Associated Press

19 comments:

Meirav Rath said...

It looks like some kind kind of hairy ape, a chimp maybe...

Nebulous Grey said...

Is it really that impossible for some kind of primate to exist in a Pennsylvania forest? Aren't there quite a lot of explanations one is able to come up with before screaming about "Bigfoot"? What about an escaped pet (term used loosely) primate that was abandoned, thus being skinny from having to survive alone in the wild, more or less?
I don't see the big deal even if a Sasquatch-type creature *did* exist. So there's a new species we've contemplated about for years. Awesome. Now stop yelling about it, go sit down and watch the news like a normal person.

Anonymous said...

AAAH it's the chupacabra!

jynxkat said...

i see a skinny bear :)

but if i squint it kinda looks like it could be something else

i dunno

Anonymous said...

A gibbon?

Anonymous said...

I call hoax. Those are human limb proportions, and the hips look like an upright-walker.

Victorya said...

Uncle Albert?

Anonymous said...

It looks like some sort of primate to me. :)
I agree with Nebulous Grey. Lol.

Christina Acker said...

Yah! Thanks for posting this. I read about this online but I hadn't seen the pictures. It definitely does not look like a bear. My vote goes too escaped zoo ape or very hairy man.

Arachnophile said...

I've become so jaded about these things after spending way too much time on Cyrptomundo. It's interesting that these shots are always so fuzzy hey?

Nebulous Grey said...

Haha, sourpuss - that'll be my new theory.

...For everything.

("What's for dinner? Werewolf!" etc.) Why? Because I'm a) weird and b) an asshole.

Anonymous said...

I keep reading here and there on the internet that it's a sick bear--very underweight and afflicted with mange. Given the drought in the northeast and how this stresses wildlife, this isn't too farfetched. And bears do have hips that enable them to stand upright.

Unknown said...

my money is on a chimp.

Unknown said...

Hey, I've told you. We can't let Jared out past 11:30 and no more posting him on your blog. It's just not fair.

Arachnophile said...

*ROLLING* Nice one kelly! ;p

Raging Wombat said...

Jared knows the rules, Kelly. This is the only way.

Anonymous said...

I would agree, as crazy as it is, that it looks like a Werewolf to me. At least thats what I first saw. Definetly not a bear, if it is, god help the poor thing. Monkey maybe, but again, if it is the poor thing needs help. Very weird indeed...

Mischief Manager said...

My bet's on an escaped primate. You know there are actually rather a lot of people with pet chimps and whatnot before the prices of them were thrust so high. People turn dogs and burmese pythons and even ball pythons loose when they get "too big" or "too aggressive"....

Not to mention, it isn't a bear. It's shape is entirely wrong, and even a naked emaciated bear has a "heavy" looking bone structure. It's front limbs are too short. I'm no expert, but I've seen my fair share of all of the above, I work at the Oregon Zoo.

Tessa said...

Even though this is very VERY old, for anyone who is perusing the archives, the following picture may be helpful. It is a photo of a black bear with mange:

http://www.jesseshunting.com/photopost/data/503/2204bear-black-mange-fla-2002.jpg

IMHO, that looks pretty much like the mystery animal.