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Old 29th May 2018, 02:22 AM   #41
Cosmic Yak
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Originally Posted by Pterodactyl View Post
Certainly possible it’s just a dog, but I’m still leaning coy-dog.
Is that why no-one's seen one before?
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Old 29th May 2018, 08:31 AM   #42
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It's a Gray's pet that got loose while its owner was busy mutilating some cattle.
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Old 30th May 2018, 01:25 PM   #43
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I noticed the linked article quoted some idiot that said it's a grizzly cub. With that tail it's not any kind of bear. I agree that other than color it looks like a coyote, so I'm going to go with melanistic coyote, or coyote-dog hybrid. Feral dog is another possibility. It's too small and its tail is too bushy for a wolf.
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Old 30th May 2018, 01:34 PM   #44
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I keep reading the title as "unidentified candid shot" and wondering what he took a picture of.
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Old 30th May 2018, 01:37 PM   #45
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Originally Posted by shemp View Post
It's the Loch Ness Monster!
Of course. It's the little-known terrestrial larval stage of the Loch Ness Monster. They hatch in Montana, then, after the fifth molt (3-5 years), they enter their aquatic meta-larval stage, swim down the Missouri and Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico, then cross the Atlantic to Loch Ness. After seven more molts (40-60 years), the winged adults fly back to Montana to mate and lay eggs, then die. Larval Loch Ness monsters were once quite common, but numbers have dropped drastically due to poisoning by dental floss tycoons, because they are a major pest of dental floss farms.
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Old 30th May 2018, 02:21 PM   #46
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Originally Posted by CORed View Post
I noticed the linked article quoted some idiot that said it's a grizzly cub.
The mainstream media seemed to quote every crazy idea that anybody said online. Even the biggest most respected media outlets included "theories" such as it being the legendary Dogman.

These weren't put forward as legitimate but instead was more like "let's see what online Americans have to say about it".
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Old 30th May 2018, 03:59 PM   #47
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Originally Posted by William Parcher View Post
The mainstream media seemed to quote every crazy idea that anybody said online. Even the biggest most respected media outlets included "theories" such as it being the legendary Dogman.

These weren't put forward as legitimate but instead was more like "let's see what online Americans have to say about it".
There's an investigation underway to determine if the Bigfoot industry's preeminent folklore/fakelore/****lore house really did sponsor this headline/story in the Huffington Post (and then denied it): The NAWAC™ Presents The Dogman™: Those Who Don't Believe Are Just Jealous Crossfit™ Dropouts!

A quick passage from the story:
"...the flashlight from the previous night's melee had really got banged up and wasn't working very well. We weren't sure if we needed to go to town and get another or simply shove this one up our..."

Say what?
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Old 31st May 2018, 06:45 AM   #48
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Originally Posted by HarryHenderson View Post
There's an investigation underway to determine if the Bigfoot industry's preeminent folklore/fakelore/****lore house really did sponsor this headline/story in the Huffington Post (and then denied it): The NAWAC™ Presents The Dogman PRAIRIE- HOUND™: Those Who Don't Believe Are Just Jealous Crossfit™ Dropouts!

A quick passage from the story:
"...the flashlight from the previous night's melee had really got banged up and wasn't working very well. We weren't sure if we needed to go to town and get another or simply shove this one up our..."

Say what?
Fixed it for ya.
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Old 31st May 2018, 06:57 AM   #49
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Originally Posted by William Parcher View Post
I'll place my bet on 100% coyote with the uncommon "black" coloration.
Originally Posted by Trebuchet View Post
Depends on the size. Looks large for a coyote. I'm guessing wolf-dog hybrid. Perhaps someone's "pet" that outgrew their ability to manage it.

Multiple "news" sites have said "Dire Wolf". Idiots. Aside from being extinct, those were pretty much huge.
Originally Posted by William Parcher View Post
Denton, Montana is outside of the general distribution range for wolves in that state. This could be an unusual feral domestic dog. The head looks like a dog but the ears are unusually large. It might be a coyote dog hybrid. The color is like a wolf but it doesn't seem to have wolf characteristics.
I don't find the range think particularly compelling, lone wolves have been known to stray quite far in search of a home.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OR-7

I bet on coy-dog or coy-wolf, though an oddly colored coyote is not out of the question, I just think the experts would have picked up on that more quickly.

Originally Posted by shemp View Post
It's obviously a chupacabra.
That's just ridiculous, its way to far north.

Edit, I thought dire wolves were much larger than modern species, seems to have been slightly larger but with a larger head relative to body size, and smaller feet and we all know what that means. Probably why it went extinct.

Last edited by ahhell; 31st May 2018 at 07:00 AM.
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Old 31st May 2018, 09:21 AM   #50
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Originally Posted by Drewbot View Post
Fixed it for ya.
I see what you did there!
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Old 31st May 2018, 09:49 AM   #51
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Originally Posted by ahhell View Post
I bet on coy-dog or coy-wolf
With the hybrid created naturally in the wild, or by a human intentionally bringing them together?
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Old 31st May 2018, 10:16 AM   #52
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Originally Posted by William Parcher View Post
With the hybrid created naturally in the wild, or by a human intentionally bringing them together?
That's a good question. I would expect wolves to be more likely to attempt to chase down a coyote and eat it rather than try to mate with it.
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Old 31st May 2018, 10:51 AM   #53
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Originally Posted by Checkmite View Post
That's a good question. I would expect wolves to be more likely to attempt to chase down a coyote and eat it rather than try to mate with it.
That's right. Wolves and coyotes are generally rivals. Coyotes are persecuted when they live within wolf territories.

The coy-wolves of the northeastern USA are descendants of matings that occurred long ago when pioneers killed off most of the wolves. This left an opportunity for coyotes to move in from the west and hybrids occurred in a situation of a very low and scattered wolf population. There haven't been any pure wolves in the NE USA in a long time. Research shows that these "big coyotes" are a mixture of wolf, coyote and dog.
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Old 31st May 2018, 10:56 AM   #54
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Originally Posted by William Parcher View Post
With the hybrid created naturally in the wild, or by a human intentionally bringing them together?
Originally Posted by Checkmite View Post
That's a good question. I would expect wolves to be more likely to attempt to chase down a coyote and eat it rather than try to mate with it.
My understanding is that natural hybrids are almost unheard of though red wolves in the S. East US are probably descended from wolf coyote hybrids. Still, if its some sort of hybrid, it was probably bred by a human.
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Old 31st May 2018, 09:06 PM   #55
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I've changed my mind again. I'm now certain that it's a Mokele-mbembe.
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Old 1st June 2018, 05:09 AM   #56
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Looks like a mutt to me!
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Old 1st June 2018, 08:04 AM   #57
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Originally Posted by shemp View Post
I've changed my mind again. I'm now certain that it's a Mokele-mbembe.
Thank you SO DAMN MUCH for that Wikipedia rabbit hole you sent me down last night.
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Old 1st June 2018, 09:07 AM   #58
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At least you didn't search for "Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend" on Netflix.

Kudos!
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Old 2nd June 2018, 05:39 AM   #59
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Originally Posted by Pope130 View Post
Depends on context. One, two, or three syllables.

Normally, two syllables: Kie-oat.

Properly, three syllables: Kie-oh-tee.

When talking to a varmint hunter, one syllable: 'yote.

When speaking to law enforcement about the folks who facilitate the transport of undocumented foreign born workers, three syllables: Coy-yoh-tae.
Are you sure you spelled Kie-oat right? I use Kie-yote. But my brother uses Kie-yo3te (the 3 is silent)
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Old 2nd June 2018, 07:30 AM   #60
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You are all wrong. It's a bigpaw.

IXP
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Old 3rd June 2018, 08:35 PM   #61
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Originally Posted by Trebuchet View Post
Thank you SO DAMN MUCH for that Wikipedia rabbit hole you sent me down last night.
Sorry about that. I've changed my mind again. It's Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer!
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Old 18th June 2018, 11:29 AM   #62
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DNA tests have confirmed a gray wolf.
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Old 18th June 2018, 11:43 AM   #63
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I'm surprised.
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Old 18th June 2018, 12:18 PM   #64
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Originally Posted by Armitage72 View Post
DNA tests have confirmed a gray wolf.
Thanks for the follow up.
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Old 18th June 2018, 12:54 PM   #65
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Cool.
Looks a little odd for a wolf, but I don't guess the DNA lies.
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Old 18th June 2018, 01:10 PM   #66
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Originally Posted by Pterodactyl View Post
Cool.
Looks a little odd for a wolf, but I don't guess the DNA lies.

The linked article mentions that parts of the body looked oddly proportioned in the photos, but when measured, they were found to be within the normal range for the species.
Cue "they swapped out the cryptid for a normal wolf in transit" claims.
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Old 18th June 2018, 02:41 PM   #67
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Originally Posted by Armitage72 View Post
Cue "they swapped out the cryptid for a normal wolf in transit" claims.
Yes—this! I demand to see the chain of custody on the carcass! </sarcasm>
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Old 19th June 2018, 05:35 AM   #68
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I would not have guessed melanistic coyote if I knew it weighed 85 pounds.
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Old 19th June 2018, 07:14 AM   #69
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It's a wolf. http://fwp.mt.gov/news/newsReleases/...e/nr_1108.html
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Old 19th June 2018, 09:12 AM   #70
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Originally Posted by Steve001 View Post
Well how boring...just an old wolf.....thanks for posting the answer to that particular question.
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Old 19th June 2018, 09:15 AM   #71
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Originally Posted by William Parcher View Post
I would not have guessed melanistic coyote if I knew it weighed 85 pounds.
I don't think a weight was mentioned in the first news article linked in the thread. Yeah 85 lbs. is way big for a coyote. At that weight, it pretty much had to be either a wolf or a dog.

Or a grizzly cub with an extremely long tail.
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Old 19th June 2018, 09:23 AM   #72
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There was no mention of weight until after the lab analysis.
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Old 19th June 2018, 02:13 PM   #73
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Originally Posted by William Parcher View Post
I would not have guessed melanistic coyote if I knew it weighed 85 pounds.
I had guessed a coyote-dog mix due in no small part to the seeming smaller size/appearance of the beast. Guess it wasn't as small as it appeared. Plus it looks less like a wolf than a coyote or a dog.
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Old 19th June 2018, 02:48 PM   #74
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Originally Posted by HarryHenderson View Post
I had guessed a coyote-dog mix due in no small part to the seeming smaller size/appearance of the beast. Guess it wasn't as small as it appeared. Plus it looks less like a wolf than a coyote or a dog.
Right, and I saw the picture of it laying on the truck tailgate and it looked coyote or dog-sized. What was working against my guess is that there's no record of any melanistic coyote in Montana. They seem to be creatures of the southeast.

That rancher was correct. He had the opportunity to see it alive - how it looked standing and behaving and moving. Wolves are not really quite like coyotes and dogs in those aspects. Even if he had never before seen a wolf on his property, he knew.
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Old 19th June 2018, 10:43 PM   #75
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The first time I heard a Black Woodpecker in a German forest I knew immediately what it was.

Because I’d never heard one before.
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