Mysterious creature found in Nelson County

[The Straight Story]

LEBANON JUNCTION, KY (WAVE) - Has a mythical creature made its way to Kentucky? Some people seem to think so, after a Nelson County man came across a creature with grayish, wrinkly skin and no fur.

Mark Cothren shot and killed an animal on Dec. 18 because he said he feared what it was, since he did not recognize it. He said the animal walked from the woods onto his front yard around 3 p.m. Cothren lives on Mount Carmel Church Road in Lebanon Junction.

"I was like: 'every animal has hair, especially this time of year!' What puzzled me is how something like that could survive through a winter with no hair," Cothren said.

"Everybody is getting very curious, you know. phone is ringing off the hook. It's kind of a mystery right now," Cothren said.





http://www.wave3.com/story/13731615/mysterious-creature-found-in-nelson-county

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Chupacabra!

[vaberella]

5. When I first read the head line that's what I thought. n/t

[uppityperson]

31. Calling A-Schwarzenegger! Please come look and tell us!

not Oscar, oh god, not that

[A-Schwarzenegger]

41. Bless the little guy.

But it can't be Oscar
because Oscar can't be killed.

[uppityperson]

42. Whew, thank you, was worried. It must be Oscar's relative, though "relative" is,

well, relative.

[A-Schwarzenegger]

43. Oscar is kin to everything.

:)

[burrowowl]

49. Bring back the Oscar thread!

It was great!
Or maybe we should have The Annuls of DU topic with things like Oscar posted, it would be as popular or more s than thr lounge!

[Canuckistanian]

75. My favorite line about Oscar....

I did once ask
Oscar what he thought of Bush. He twitched, stared
thoughtfully off into the lonely distance where
the lights of the cars wound through the darkened
foothills, and vomited over the balustrade.

[Motown_Johnny]

2. the disease is called Mange

[flvegan]

9. My first thought as well.

[MadBadger]

3. Poor Mr. Bigglesworth

[vaberella]

4. It looks like a Sphynx to me. Or a biproduct of Sphynx/Rat pairing. n/t

[Brilliantrocket]

6. Whatever it is...

Palin would be eager to shoot one.

[Angry Dragon]

7. It is a republican spawn

or a republican missing link

[timtom]

79. How strange! We seem to think exactly alike!

That was the first thought as I opened up this thread.

[uppityperson]

8. "about the size of a house cat"? Edited since I don't think sphynx, but picts left for enjoyment

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

10. It's not a cat -- the ears are the wrong shape and the nose is too big.

Maybe a buck-naked raccoon?

[The Straight Story]

12. And the paws are all wrong. (nt)

[Bonobo]

13. Paws are all wrong too. nt

[Art_from_Ark]

17. Dad-gum long-eared varmint!

[Bonobo]

11. Those don't look like a dog's paws to me.

Frankly, I don't know wtf that thing is.

It's 'paws' look like those of a rodent to me.

[Motown_Johnny]

18. the paws look about right if you never cut your dog's nails

[teenagebambam]

14. About the size of a HOUSE CAT

and he felt like shooting it was his best recourse?

[alphafemale]

34. From the looks of it, being shot may have been the kindest thing that happened to that critter.

Poor baby.

[alphafemale]

37. And btw I'm pretty sure this is a fox. nt

[CanSocDem]

73. I think you're right...

...I saw one like that this summer. Looked disoriented, confused and very sick. My friend got a close look at it and said it was a sick fox.

[Brickbat]

15. Mangey possum.

That wasn't hard.

[ben_thayer]

16. I concur... EOM

[Bonobo]

19. Agree. I don't know why I didn't think of that.

Well done.

[uppityperson]

21. I think you are right and I was wrong re sphynx cat. More picts of possum feet...

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

26. Possums have pink noses.

Based on the nose and the paws, I'd be more inclined to say it's a mangy raccoon.

[uppityperson]

29. a mangy one may not. Is it...could it be...Oscar?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

30. It doesn't have enough nipples to be a possum. They have 13.

[uppityperson]

33. Oscar.I've tried to find another animal and that is what we are left with. Sniff.

[Motown_Johnny]

23. ding ding ding ding

I knew it was mange but I don't see many possum where I live. I didn't think of that.

[TorchTheWitch]

57. I don't think it's mange

With that amount of massive hair loss the skin would be a mess of flaking, scales, crusts and sores. Mange is a lot worse than just hair loss, and it's intensely itchy... there isn't even any evidence of scratching.

[cigsandcoffee]

20. If you don't know what it is, then why not shoot it?

Good rule of thumb there. (holding head in hands)

[dhill926]

47. I hear ya......

wtf?

[TheMadMonk]

59. In a long populated area, it is in fact not a bad rule of thumb.

A truly novel appearing creature is most likely to be either an alien introduction, or something indigent with a serious disease. Either way, it's more likely than not to be a threat to the critters that belong.

Unless you can be sure of safely capturing the creature, shooting is quite possibly the best option.

[astral]

65. shooting something just because you don't know what it is

is not just stupid, it's really SCARY STUPID.

[TheMadMonk]

66. The bloke's reasoning might well be scary stupid. However,...

...he did do the right thing, even if by accident.

Naturaly hairless mammals are not at all common in the wild. As an actual mutation the creature alive might have had a small amount of circus freak novelty.

Likeliest explanation is it is an "X" with severe mange in which case euthenasia is the kindest thing to do.

Either way, left alone it would almost certainly have died over the Winter.

I am not a big fan of the sort of compassion that has three coppers with sidearms, standing around a screaming horse, waiting while the vet fetches his "approved" bolt gun.

[astral]

70. I guess you have a good point there.

However, if we find a creature that really is a species we are unfamiliar with, I would think we would want to capture it without harming it to find out more.

[CountAllVotes]

22. a creature with grayish, wrinkly skin and no fur

*eek* :wow:

I was thinking it was some old repuke that had gotten lost!

Nope. :think:

[bvar22]

74. Yeah....Mitch McConnel was the first thing I thought.

*

[uppityperson]

24. OMG HE SHOT OSCAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111

[On the Road]

25. OMG --

Somebody shot Oscar!

[amerikat]

46. Thanks for that.. Somehow I missed that post.

I really enjoyed it.

[Recursion]

50. God, I miss those days in DU... (nt)

[Boojatta]

51. Did you join DU before Apr 28th 2006, using a name different from "Recursion"?

That thread was locked as of Thu Jan-22-04 11:14 PM.

[Recursion]

54. Join? No, but I started reading in like '02

I remember I started reading before my reserve unit got mobilized, so that would have been in late '02 or very early '03.

[Boojatta]

55. Thanks for the info.

It seems odd to me that a thread could be remembered for years by someone who was lurking and might continue to lurk without ever registering. Before I create a thread, should I try to take into consideration the audience of lurkers who are, from my point of view, completely invisible? I would prefer to ignore the problem, but I'm not in the habit of letting myself off the hook so easily.

[Recursion]

56. Maybe I'm missing your point?

It seems odd to me that a thread could be remembered for years by someone who was lurking and might continue to lurk without ever registering.

No, mostly I remember it when people mention it (seems to happen a few times per year). It's not like I spend my days thinking about that thread.

Before I create a thread, should I try to take into consideration the audience of lurkers who are, from my point of view, completely invisible?

Why would you?

I mostly don't get why my remembering this thread concerns you so much.

[Recursion]

53. Delete

Replying to the wrong post

[Skink]

27. Alan Simpson

actually it's a Chupicabra. We got herds of them here in Texas.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

32. John McCain.

[CountAllVotes]

36. I was going to suggest that but ...

out of respect for John McCain I didn't but still ... sounds awfully familiar huh? :rofl:

[nadinbrzezinski]

28. Mange

http://www.petmd.com/dog/conditions/skin/c_multi_Demodicosis?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=mange&utm_campaign=Dogs&gclid=CK6RicX5g6YCFSJ0gwodbjstnw

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mange

[freethought]

35. It's a raccon

Raccoons have long finger-like toes, just like this creature. They spend a great deal of time foraging with them by probing and feeling in ponds, rotting wood and the like. This fellow is likely a victim on mange, but just take a quick look at the toes to the front paws, to me it's a give away.
Opossums have shorter toes and they are kind of splayed apart.

I would put my money that this poor creature was a coon.

[Zanzobar]

39. Definitely coon

Ears, whiskers, hands

[eppur_se_muova]

69. That was my first thought as well.

Coons look fat because of the plush fur. Lose the fur --

[opihimoimoi]

38. That was the Good Luck Creature sent to share with us Humans...now we gonna be outta luck for awhile

[Barack_America]

40. I also agree. Or possibly a raccoon or fox with mange, depending on the tail.

And it probably wouldn't have survived the winter.

So shooting it may have been the humane thing to do.

[BrklynLiberal]

44. "What puzzled me is how something like that could survive through a winter with no hair,"

Well..not a problem anymore. That guy made sure it would not survive the winter..

[Mortos]

58. Looks like my dog - American Hairless Terrier

Slick survives the winter wearing sweaters and by not staying outside too long.

[BrklynLiberal]

63. Awwwwwwwwww..What a cutie. I know that hairless cats are very affectionate..craving body warmth.

I would guess that Slick might share that wonderful attribute.

LOVe the way s/he is looking up at you....just says love love love.

[originalpckelly]

71. Hairless dog = 1000 times cuter than hairless cat.

Just saying. I love the spots. :P

[TeeYiYi]

45. Raccoon....

... from Google images:



TYY

[csziggy]

48. Looks a lot like the young foxes we had last spring with mange

We managed to trap one and turn it over to a rescue group, but the poor little girl was just too sick and even with IV antibiotics died from complications to mange.

[Codeine]

52. One look at it's tail and you'd know what it was.

"Mysterious creature" my ass.

[MichaelHarris]

60. "I didn't know what it was

so I shot it." Not the approach I would take. Funniest looking sandwich I ever saw so I shot it.

[BrklynLiberal]

64. Luckily, I guess, it was not a feral child

[moobu2]

61. Looks like a Fox with a bad case of mange

[Are_grits_groceries]

62. Parthenogenesis by way of

Mitch McConnell.

[madokie]

67. Isn't this an old story?

seems like I've read about this before and it was proven to be an animal, a dog, a coyote or wolf or something with severe mange.

[Mimosa]

68. An atypical mutt with alopecia?

Why the heck did he have to shoot the poor animal? It may have been cold and starving.

[Rex]

72. It is some species of wombat.

[TwilightGardener]

76. Hairless possum.

[ZombieHorde]

77. "Mark Cothren..."

"Mark Cothren shot and killed an animal on Dec. 18 because he said he feared what it was, since he did not recognize it."

What the fuck? Humans suck.

[swilton]

78. Saddly, I think it's mange

I found a little (less than 8 lbs.) dog with hair - a Chihuahua mix beside the road in Ga....ended up adopting her....She could be this little dog with hair....

I don't see why people have to shoot things and kill them to understand them...