I'm sure by now, quite a few people have seen this on the news, or on the internet.
http://www.thewbalchannel.com/news/3558698/detail.html[/URL]

I've got a sorta interesting story regarding this. A few months ago, (back when our computer was kaput), we had just gotten Brianna's little dog, and I had let him out in our fenced yard to play. Something made me look out the window to check on him, and when I did, I saw a really odd looking animal outside of the fence, trying to get in. Brianna was taking a nap, so I stepped outside.

Thinking that I would scare it off, I stepped out the door to yell at the animal. Much to my surprise, rather than running off, the animal glared at me and made a menacing noise, a cross between a grunt and a growl.

Not having good sense, and being upset that this thing appeared to be stalking my puppy, I grabbed a garden hoe and took off after it yelling. If I had some blue paint on my face, I would have done a Braveheart impression that would have made Mel Gibson proud.

I chased the thing into the woods across the road, with it still making this odd noise. I grabbed the puppy and headed into the house, trying to figure out what I had seen. I knew the anminal must have been ill, because I didn't do much in the way of scaring it off. I went out at least once more that day, to run the animal off from the yard (still outside our fence). When James got home, I described the noise it made, and said that the closest I could identify , it was possibly a coyote with a severe case of mange. I didn't think it was a fox, because the legs were much too long.

That evening, James decided to go out and try to find the animal, taking his twenty-two as protection. In the dark, he heard the same odd sound that I had described. He described it as similar to the snorting noise a deer will sometimes make. James could see the eyes, and decided to fire a shot at the animal. (Keep in mind, we live 30 miles from the nearest small town). We looked the next morning, and there was no corpse, but James does think he may have hit it.

I had all but forgotten about the incident until I heard about these pictures today. This is VERY similar to the animal I saw, and I noticed from the site, a similar report from somewhere it Texas. I'm not sure what this thing was, but even my husband, who has grown up in the woods of East Texas and seen all sorts of odd animals, has never seen anything quite like it. Interesting little mystery!

I can't believe you ran after the animal! You're a hell of a lot braver than me! I would have been locking the doors and hiding under the bed or something!! haha

So I went to that link and watched the news cast of it... that is one wierd looking animal! Looks kinda like a hyhena *sp? ! I'm curious about the animal... maybe it has some kind of birth defect or something.

Candi, I don't know what it was; but, I don't think it was in good health. Usually, wild animals are very skiddish around people, but this thing was pretty aggressive. Plus, the sound it made was absolutely weird. I've heard stories in the community about people keeping exotic animals and then turning them lose; but I couldn't identify this thing to tell what it was.

Brave, naw... I was pretty ticked off and upset that it was after the puppy. Now, what was scary, was after I ran it off the first time, I could hear it on the porch, brushing up against the door and making that odd noise again. By then, I had put the puppy in the house, locked the doors and called my husband, who was more than a little amused by my reaction.

Whatever it was, it was downright bizarre, and I'd rather not have another close encounter with it again!

Hi Carrie!

Well maybe the animal you saw had rabies or something? That would explain the wierd behavior... wouldn't it be something if it was the same weird animal that people were seeing!

I thought it might have been a rabid coyote, but it still didn't look quite right. I even wondered if it was some sort of weird hybrid. It sure did resemble the animal in Maryland!

No offense Carrie. It just strikes me a little funny that everytime we see or experience anything odd with an animal that we can't identify we attribute it to a coyote with a problem. =)

We have lots of coyotes up here in New England. I've seen many. In fact one was in my yard the other morning and I live in a more or less suburban area.

Those pictures didn't look like a coyote. Perhaps a coyote mixed with something else.

Maybe yours was though.

Good for you chasing it off and saving your puppy. =)

Keep a camera ready and try to get a picture if you can.

Coyotes in the burbs?! Wow!!! That could make some folks nervous!

We hear coyotes at night -- being from the burbs myself, I just about flipped my lid the first time I heard a group of them at the back of our property! LOL!

James suggested that it may have been a coyote that was crossed up with a dog of some sort. However, I've never heard either animal make a noise like that.

I don't know, but wouldn't it be weird if this was some sort of previously undetected animal that has spread through the U.S.?

I'll keep the camera ready, but it was several months ago since we last saw it. I would love to catch a pic of it (from a safe distance) and have it compared to the animal in Maryland.