Saturday, August 01, 2009

Montauk Monster In Toronto?

Compare: ...with the monster itself:
A bald racoon has been seen running around the Toronto neighborhood of Parkdale. The home-owners there have taken a few pictures, as well as the video below. "Baldy" (or "The Toronto Terror", according to some) appears healthy and well hydrated, but none of the local scientists have seen a totally bald raccoon before. The youtube clip also shows a couple of normal raccoon companions, so the ID is not really in doubt.

Most writers who IDd the Montauk monster as a dead raccoon assumed that the hairlessness was a matter of taphonomy--the fur was lost after death. Maybe not. Mange/Alopecia seems to make them look pretty weird as well.

7 comments:

Jay said...

Poor raccoon. I didn't know they could get alopecia.

Nancy Leblanc said...

BCL, I saw this animal on my street, I kid you not. Can't recall exactly when, maybe year and a half ago. Was driving and had it in my headlights, scared the daylights out of me had never seen anything like it. Called City animal control to describe it, they had no idea. My brother was sure it was an opossum.

bigcitylib said...

Imp, You are a very, very fortunate person. If you ever see it again...BE NICE! Most raccoons love bananas and raw eggs. Bald ones are probably no different. Carry some with you at night AT ALL TIMES!

Nancy Leblanc said...

ok, i'll try to remember the food stuffs when on my way out, thx for the tip:) Always happy to visit your site and get all the latest wildlife updates.

Frobisher said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Frobisher said...

These ugly things are possums. They've been migrating here over the last few years, along with coyotes.

Parkdale/High Park (as are most of the city's ravines) is part of the great expanse of Carolinian Forest, so they (possums) feel at home in the swelter, but generally aren't hardy enough to survive the winters here, so they crawl under porches and perish. Speculation is they've been breeding with raccoons, and so may adapt.

But there's no such thing as climate change. Or evolution.

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