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Mysterious creature turns up below high water mark near Jericho Beach
Strange things can turn up at low tide.
Sebastien Mouttet was out walking his dog Thursday afternoon on the English Bay shoreline near the foot of Dunbar Street in Vancouver when his dog found something interesting.
It was this:
“She ran straight for this thing,” Mouttet said. “I guess she must have smelled it.”
Mouttet smelled it soon enough, too, and it wasn’t pleasant.
He was stumped as to what it might be, though. He posted the photos to Reddit and asked if anyone had any ideas. The images immediately reminded us of other mysterious creatures that have circulated online in recent years, such as the so-called Montauk Monster (which may or may not have been a raccoon), and more recently the skinless washup in Santa Barbara.
We ran Mouttet’s photos by Christopher Stinson, curatorial assistant of mammals, reptiles and amphibians at UBC’s Beaty Biodiversity Museum. Stinson confirmed that the creature is in fact a northern river otter. They live along the shore all over the city, including Stanley Park, where they hunt for fish.
“They’re called river otters because that’s usually where you find them in the rest of North America, but on the coast they’re usually in the shallows,” Stinson said. You could even find one in the middle of the Strait of Georgia. They are capable of completing the crossing.
Stinson said he has found two otters washed up on beaches in the Lower Mainland, as well as a live pup at Wreck Beach last year.
This particular otter had undergone extensive decomposition. It had no fur and — although it’s hard to tell from the photos — possibly no skin.
The otter may even have been trapped and skinned at some point, then thrown into a river or the ocean, Stinson said.
Stinson will be giving a talk about otters on behalf of the Stanley Park Ecological Society on March 12 at the West End Community Centre.
source : http://blogs.theprovince.com/
Big rat
Seriously decomposed sewer rat. I work underground, and I’ve seen plenty of those huge SOB’s
That big? It’s half the size of that dog! Norway, AKA Sewer Rats don’t get that big. This thing is a hybrid of some sort.
I’ve seen rats as big as dogs. In the Philippines, if you go fishing along the coast don’t bring smelly bait with you,. The rats will attack you for it.
Don’t believe everything American Science reports, Chefjim. I second what Saber and Mfritz0 said.
When in the Marines, I’ve seen rats this big, still walking, in both Bangkok Thailand, and in the Philippines (before they shut Clark AFB down, around 1989).
Then again, I saw a 2nd Lieutenant get charges for discharging his 9mm sidearm at a 2-lb (10-inch long) COCKROACH in Hawaii, when they remodeled the Mess Hall at KMCAS (now Kaneohe MCB) in 1990-91. Seems the roach had grown too large to leave the underside of the main oven, so camped-in-place like a catfish will do beneath a freshwater dam. Science isn’t science, it’s just ‘general myth’ the masses accept. If you knew the real truth, you’d be Skeeeeeerrrrd. If you accepted what I was saying, you’d also probably never fly again – since MOST PILOTS HAVE REPORTED UFO’s, and subsequently been silenced to not speak out, too.
Now THAT”S what I’m talkin about.
That thing on the beach….if it had been in New Orleans…would have been called a Nutria. (Swamp rat)
And Dustdevil is right…there are aberrations through out the world.
And every pilot I know has seen something they can’t explain…..and most truckers if they have spent enough time in Arizona.
Looks to me like the dead American economy.
Opossum
Looks like a possum to me.