Comments on: Attacked by African Mystery Beast

By: cradossk

cradossk — Sun, 01 Apr 2007 02:31:04 +0000

hmm, has anyone thought of the possibility that we might be dealing with an ALIEN WARE-HYENA!?
Makes sense, doesn’t it?

in all seriousness though, normal, non alien ware, hyena or a man in a suit with a halogen light would be my best guess.

By: Mnynames

Mnynames — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 23:53:02 +0000

Perhaps Kittenz and Squatchwatcher are referring to the Issawiya? They were men who dressed in leopard skins, used clawed hand weapons, and did have a habit of terrorizing villages and murdering the odd person. Historically, they tended to be the enforcers of tribal law, so technically they weren’t criminals, although since they had a habit of attacking western colonials in their sleep, the results blamed on (Naturally enough) leopards, the Europeans tended to see them as such. Haven’t heard much about them since the 1960’s, and I believe they were mainly in East Africa, but I don’t have my notes on them handy (Just moved), so don’t take that as law…interesting nonetheless.

I agree that the locals would probably know a Hyaena or Babboon, but never underestimate the stupidity of man- I’ve known people who couldn’t recognize a housecat at 20 paces…

By: things-in-the-woods

things-in-the-woods — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 18:34:09 +0000

I’d just go for baboon. In my opinion that comes closest to the description- they have hands and finger nails, they have dog-like faces, they often rear up bipedally in aggressive encounters. They are also reasonable intelligent and inquisitive animals, whom it is not impossible to imagine investigating protruding toes and snatching at a blanket.

As Kittenz says, they typically arent ’spotted’, but given that this woman seems to have awkened to quite a shock, any kind of variagation in coat colouring, or simply patches of dirt could have easily been misinterpreted.

We should also note that in Malawi, jumping through a window need not mean anything much more than jumping through an unglazed opening perhaps covered with loose plastic sheeting or something similar.

And ‘man dressed as animal’ wouldn’t be my first guess- i reckon we’ve all been watching too many videos of idiots running around washington state in monkey suits…

By: squatchwatcher

squatchwatcher — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 14:51:38 +0000

Maybe the fabled leopard men of Africa? As for her seeing light, maybe she got cracked on the noggin’, I know when I hit my head hard on something I see bright spots of light. Maybe that’s what she meant.

By: MBFH

MBFH — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 14:08:48 +0000

Human dressed up as said before by kittenz and Bob K. That would explain the legs and hands and being able to get in and out of the house. Someone trying to scare the poor lady.

By: Bob K.

Bob K. — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 06:24:23 +0000

The part of her story about the room she was in being bathed in light leads me to believe that this may have been something paranormal(unless this creature was bioluminescent as well). It had a dogs snout, but it simply scratched her toes and “hit her in the ribs”-a la Joe Frazier. No biting, tearing, clawing reported. A dog like animal with HANDS with long nails? Yeah, either a human dressed up in animal skins as kittenz suggested, or a demonic manifestation of some sort.

By: kittenz

kittenz — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 01:52:56 +0000

But baboons do not have spots.

By: Raptorial

Raptorial — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 01:35:46 +0000

In my opinion, it sounds similar to a baboon. They have been described as having dog-like faces before.

By: 12inchPianist

12inchPianist — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 23:13:43 +0000

I’m gonna have to go with Alien Hyena. What most people don’t realize is, that the Hyenas from Alpha Centauri are more closely related to Earth bats than to Earth hyenas.

By: elsanto

elsanto — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 22:38:06 +0000

Here’s why I’m not ready to assume hyena or leopard:

1. Bangwe isn’t an urban centre as we understand urban. Malawi is rich in flora and fauna and the people in Bangwe don’t seemed to be walled away from nature as westerners tend to wall themselves away from it. That being the case, I’m sure that Mrs. Landani knows a hyena from leopard and a hawk from a hernshaw (to steal from the Bard).

2. Hyenas being opportunistic, I doubt very much that it would have just scratched her toes. I think it’s safe to bet that she would have lost some.

3. What’s with the pulling of the blanket? That seems odd. A leopard might do that, but she did not identify the critter as a leopard (which, incidentally, is indigenous to Malawi).

4. The “being hit” thing is odd.

I agree with kittenz’ suggestion that it may have been an individual dressed in animal skins perpetrating a crime or indulging in some form of bizarre fetishism. Given what the records show with respect to the two cryptids I suggested, it’s unlikely that Mrs. Landani would have escaped without loss of any sort (thinking life and/or limb, here).

Find a penny pick it up, the rest of the day you’ll have a penny.