Can You Identify This Mystery Animal?
Unity Township-Westmoreland County, PA
June 7, 2013
Photo of mystery animal in Unity Twp., PA
Used with the permission of the witness
On June 7, 2013, a woman who lives in a very wooded area of Unity Township a few miles east of Greensburg saw a strange animal unlike anything she had ever seen. She is looking for help in trying to identify what the creature was. It all began at about 11:30 AM that morning when she was taking a walk around her property.
About 50-75 yards away, she noticed movement in some high weeds and saw an animal which she thought initially was a deer. The animal, at that distance, seemed to be a little larger than a fawn. As the animal exited the high weeds, she quickly realized that it was not a deer. The face of the animal turned in her direction and looked somewhat like a dog with big ears.
The body of the animal was estimated to be about 2 to 2 ½ feet long with a tail about a foot long. The entire animal was the same color described as really dark brown and completely hairless. The tail was long and skinny. The creature appeared to be very thin, and the back legs of the animal appeared to be longer than the front legs.
The back of the animal also appeared to be hunched up. The ears looked to be straight up, and similar to a deer. The weirdest physical detail of the animal was a very prominent snout. The snout was described as appearing really long and really thick. It was not pointed at the end but seemed to be blunted.
The witness was not able to identify the strange beast and she decided to go into the house to grab her phone and use the camera function to take a picture. She was able to take a picture before the animal ran off and from quite a distance away. An enlargement of the picture is used with this report and reproduced with the permission of the witness.
When the animal could no longer be seen, the woman decided to approach closer to that area hoping to get a more detailed photograph. She moved about 25 yards ahead when she heard some growling and decided to turn back. A couple of seconds after the animal moved off into the woods, a deer came running from that area. The deer was snorting and huffing and appeared as though it was frightened.
A similar animal has reportedly been seen around that general area by other people over the last year. I have been receiving other reports of somewhat similar strange hairless creatures over the last two years from various statewide locations.
The woman who did an internet search mentioned that what she saw looked similar to an animal identified as a Tasmanian Tiger, even though she saw no stripes. She said that the blow up of the photo of the animal that she took seemed to possibly show stripes. If you have seen anything similar, or have some ideas as to the identity of this animal, please let us know.
More recently on June 29, 2013, in a rural area of Greene County outside of Waynesburg, another odd hairless creature with a dog-like face was reported.