Folks are still hysterical over the origin, and species, of the Montauk monster. (Don’t worry: It was definitely not the Pale Horse of the Apocalypse.)
The blogger at Tetrapod Zoology makes a strong case that the curious creature was actually a quite common mammal. It was a raccoon, not the dog that I thought.
“As you can see from the composite image shown here, the match for a raccoon is perfect once we compare the dentition and proportions,” Darren Naish writes. “The Montauk animal has lost its upper canines (you can even see the empty sockets), and if you’re surprised by the length of the Montauk animal’s limbs, note that – like a lot of mammals we ordinarily assume to be relatively short-legged – raccoons are actually surprisingly leggy.”
Poor, old, decomposed Monty. Frankly, I’m not sure what I’m more scared of: a mini monster or a rotting raccoon.
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