Wildlife biologists are stumped by a bizarre furry creature that was fatally shot on a ranch in Denton, Montana.
Is it Big Foot? A werewolf? A new species of dog?
Experts are working with DNA samples from the animal killed on May 16 to determine the species.
"The strongest suspicion is that it's a wolf dog hybrid," said a Fish and Wildlife spokesperson in a video released May 25.
The creature has long grayish-brown fur, an enormous head and a long snout.
"We have no idea what this was until we get a DNA report back," Bruce Auchly, information manager for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, told the Great Falls Tribune. "It was near a rancher's place, it was shot, and our game wardens went to investigate. The whole animal was sent to our lab in Bozeman. That's the last I ever heard of it."
A statement from Fish and Wildlife adds: "The animal originally was reported as a wolf, but several Fish, Wildlife and Parks' wolf specialists looked at photos of the animal and collectively doubted it was a purebred wolf: The canine teeth were too short, the front paws too small and the claws on the front paw were too long."
The animal was seen within several yards of livestock, domestic dogs and children and the rancher was within his rights to kill it.
The carcass was sent to a lab in Bozeman where tissue samples were collected and shipped to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Laboratory in Ashland, Ore.
