Cryptomundo » Cryptid Washes Ashore At Montauk

Cryptid Washes Ashore At Montauk

Posted by: Loren Coleman on July 29th, 2008

Something strange has washed ashore at Montauk Island, New York.

“This is an actual monster, some sort of rodent-like creature with a dinosaur beak. A tipster says that there is ‘a government animal testing facility very close by in Long Island,’” says Gawker in a posting for Tuesday, July 29, 2008.

Comments like “That’s a turtle, without its shell,” make no sense because of the teeth. Some fossil turtles had teeth, but no modern turtles possess real teeth.

What is this animal?

Why can’t people put some sort of size reference object in these mystery photos? How big is this thing?

For now, it remains the “Montauk Monster.”

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 29th, 2008 at 10:52 am and is filed under Breaking News, CryptoZoo News, Cryptotourism, Cryptozoologists, Cryptozoology, Evidence, Out of Place, Photos, Public Forum, Sea Serpents, Weird Animal News. You can follow responses via our RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is not allowed.

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56 Responses to “Cryptid Washes Ashore At Montauk”

elfis responds: July 29th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
F is for … FREAKY!

- SMiles
StinkFoot responds: July 29th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
almost looks like a capibara. very strange looking, maybe one of those monster rats they were looking for on Monster quest.
Aphyllos responds: July 29th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
Interesting…
I’d suggest possibly a canine of some sort, the “beak” actually being the bone of the top jaw jutting through the flesh of the lip and muscle structure?

The slightly elongated neck drew my attention, but it may just be the lack of hair giving that impression.
Aphyllos responds: July 29th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
Knowing the size of this “monster” would certainly give a general ball park for possible known species that could be candidates.
pitch black moon responds: July 29th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
There are more reasons this isn’t a turtle. From Wikipedia: “The upper shell of the turtle is called the carapace. The lower shell that encases the belly is called the plastron. The carapace and plastron are joined together on the turtle’s sides by bony structures called bridges. The inner layer of a turtle’s shell is made up of about 60 bones that includes portions of the backbone and the ribs, meaning the turtle cannot crawl out of its shell.”
Turtles are also scaly, and this animal obviously has smooth skin.

I don’t have a guess as to what it is, but I know what it’s not.
Gary the Cat responds: July 29th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
Not so sure it is a beak. I think it is the nasal bone showing through a hole in the rotted face.

Still-what it is, I can’t guess. Without any size reference, it’s difficult.
red_pill_junkie responds: July 29th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
Interesting find.

Definitely not a turtle.
Andrew Minnesota responds: July 29th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
You can see joints on the hands similar to fingers and it looks like it has a beard of sorts? And what is up with that cloth like band around the right forelimb? The right side appears to have a circular scar as well. Just observations.

Incredibly odd though. Looking forward to updates.
perkin2000 responds: July 29th, 2008 at 2:56 pm
Interesting pic. First thing I thought of was the things that Rick Moranis and Sigourney Weaver turn into at the end of Ghostbusters.

But that’s just silly.

If real, it could be very interesting.

Oh, and hello everyone, first post on here.

From London, U.K.
Munnin responds: July 29th, 2008 at 3:00 pm
I also think it looks like a dog that’s been dead, and in the water, long enough to bloat… and to have been scavenged a bit by some of the numerous marine creatures that make their living that way. I am wondering what material that is which seems to be wrapped around the Right front foreleg. Seaweed? Fabric? Hide? It may not be significant at all, but I’m curious.
mitchigan responds: July 29th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
Some type of Felid.
Ayala responds: July 29th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
Poor little thing. I think it’s a small dog.
Someone on the source site gave a great answer to what it is:

Denebian Slime Devil

I hope we hear more and I hope it’s not a viral campaign of some sort - wait, maybe I do, because then it’s not real.
Sunny responds: July 29th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
There really haven’t been any photos that I’ve seen on Cryptomundo that shocked, sickened, or bothered me (even the pretty gnarly snaps of the “Texas chupacabras” and the “Maine Mutant” were gross, but didn’t bother me.)

This one really, truly creeps me out.

Please keep us posted on what this thing is — it doesn’t look a bit like anything I’ve ever seen!

(sorry, canids and felids don’t have beaks that I’ve ever seen)
siquisiri responds: July 29th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
Lokks kind of “Griffinish”
coelacanth1938 responds: July 29th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
I did a simple enhance on the pic. It is indeed nasal bone.
semillama responds: July 29th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
From the sand grain size, I’d say it’s between 1.5 and 3 feet long at best. It’s weird though - for a body that’s supposedly been in the water for long enough to remove the hair, the body and skin is remarkably well preserved. Perhaps this thing was actually buried in the sand and uncovered by wave action? Might explain why no hair, plus perhaps the snout was the only thing exposed, resulting in the decay present there.
cryptidsrus responds: July 29th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
Montauk???

This is the site where the famous “time travel/animal/gentics/whatever” experiments took place years ago, right???

If it is, doe snot surprise me. It is said there is still freaky stuff going on in there.

I agree that this creepy to the 9th degree.
Let’s see the “otter” people try to explain this one.
ksr responds: July 29th, 2008 at 3:43 pm
Looks like a dead Pittbull. That hasn’t had the tail cut.
Andrew Minnesota responds: July 29th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
We already know that Loren is familiar with the skeletons of dogs, if he thought that this is what it is I think he would tell us. Even if the skin has decomposed in the front their dogs and cats skulls just are not like that.

I would very much like to hear Loren’s thoughts and observations on this.
sundevit responds: July 29th, 2008 at 3:54 pm
i don’t get the fuzz about the size reference. you’ve all seen sand on a beach before, right? even though there are different types of sand and soil, you can pretty much guess from the grain size how big this critter is. to me it seems to be fairly the size of a small to average dog. the legs, tail, skin and everything else point clearly to mammal. the overall anatomy (from what we can see) looks very similar to a regular dog. the beak is certainly not a beak, but probably (as many guessed already) bone. summing things up: it’s probably a canine or feline (even more probable due to the short face bone) kind of animal showing decay and scavanging. no real mystery to me …
RastaLife32 responds: July 29th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
IT’S MANBEARPIG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Erin responds: July 29th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot.

Did anyone see Cloverfield? Doesn’t it look like a baby Cloverfield monster? Here’s one still of the monster, and another. That film had a tremendous lot of viral marketing attached to it and a sequel is alleged to be in the works. I wonder if the plot will involve, say, a momma monster wrecking havoc on humanity because our pollution/atomic testing/radar/whatever killed her baby?

Montauk is infamous for the weirdness that surrounds it, so it seems a little convenient that this should wash up there. On the other hand, if tales of Montauk weirdness are accurate, then it makes perfect sense.

Regardless, that thing is bizarre. I hope it’s something real and interesting, but I suspect a very cool viral marketing ploy.

Here’s a YouTube video of the creature in action.

On top of that, if I were reporting a cryptid, I’d probably report it to news outlets and blogs like Cryptomundo. If I were, say, a studio hyping a coming film…I would report it to a celebrity and entertainment blog. You know. Like Gawker.

I’d like for this to be the real deal, but given the timing, the resemblance to the Cloverfield monster and JJ Abrams’ love of viral marketing, I’d expect the “Cloverfield 2″ plot to be the story of a vengeful momma monster wrecking havoc on humanity for killing her baby.
Endroren responds: July 29th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Here’s a non-scientific test - cover the “beak” with your finger and it starts to look a lot more like a dog. I think that “beak” draws your eye so completely that it makes it hard to take much else in.
Richard888 responds: July 29th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
I don’t see what the fuss is all about. All we have here is a picture, not a physical specimen. This could be easily a clever Photoshop job combining a pig body, dog jaw and raptor beak. If this was a Bigfoot pic I bet everyone would be screaming “Hoax!”. Poor Bigfoot has so much bias against it. Tsk!
CamperGuy responds: July 29th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
voting for domestic canine
Bullseye responds: July 29th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
Save the photo, enlarge it, flesh on the top jaw missing (as said above) material tying the two front legs together, a canid or less likely a felid, but with those teeth definitely a predator.
MattBille responds: July 29th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
My first thought also was Photoshop.
hudgeliberal responds: July 29th, 2008 at 6:26 pm
Strange pic but I have a feeling that it is either a clever photoshop job or a bloated, decaying carcass of a pit bull. Just my impressions. However, there is enough to make one scratch his head just a bit. Good find Loren. Peace.
dunk_the_biscuit responds: July 29th, 2008 at 6:41 pm
Whatever it is, it doesn’t look like it’s been in the water for a while, if at all. It looks more dried out than waterlogged.

Those claws on the front feet look too straight to be a felid.

And are there any more pictures? With such good lighting you’d expect the photographer to hang around and take shots from different angles, maybe try moving the corpse…

A totally non-scientific reaction from me, but it looks too creepy to be real - like it’s been set up for maximum creep effect.
draco_cd responds: July 29th, 2008 at 6:49 pm
I think this actually might be a penguin. Even without the beak it looks like a plucked turkey. Penguins have been known to get washed ashore in strange places.
youcantryreachingme responds: July 29th, 2008 at 6:55 pm
Phyllos has it - it’s a dog with the skull showing through giving the impression of a beak. Drowned bodies lying in the sun will have a tendancy to bloat - giving the creature a bulkier impression than what it would have looked like when alive.

Although I haven’t double-checked first hand, I’m sure the lower dentition will match a dog. If not, let me know!
Asherz_Carrion responds: July 29th, 2008 at 7:59 pm
I’m not entirely sure what to make of this photo. It does not look like any other canid i have see before but possibly, it is. I’d say it looks rat-like but only because of the bloat, which is caused most likely by drowning and then drying out in the sun, and the lack of hair. The mouth area does look beak-like. I don’t think it’s a bone of any sort to be honest. I have never seen a bone shaped like that before. But we’ll hopefully get a DNA test or something done and figure out what it is exactly =].

I’m new btw. Hello =D
gkingdano responds: July 29th, 2008 at 8:37 pm
Photoshop with bad case of mange.
SeiferTim responds: July 29th, 2008 at 9:06 pm
Penguin is unlikely, since it seems to have a long, skinny tail. A dog or similar mammal with decomposed face to create the ‘beak’ is my guess… I hope there’s more info later…
joppa responds: July 29th, 2008 at 9:16 pm
Sea water and sunshine does funky things to dead critters. I am with the canine crew on this guess. Fido went fishing and became the bait.
Stirling responds: July 29th, 2008 at 9:40 pm
Looks like somebody dumped a dog and tied the front legs together so it wouldn’t be swimming back.
DontCryBigfoot responds: July 29th, 2008 at 11:15 pm
If it’s a dog it has to be one of the shortfaced breeds(pug or bulldog maybe), since the bottom jaw appears to be complete and is very short in relation with the head, the problem with that is those breeds generally have large heads in relation with thier body…. I know about bloating possibly obscuring the big picture, but even the length of the body compared with the head seems to be all wrong for those breeds.

I don’t think it’s a dog, and to be honest the slope of the skull rules out cat for me as well….. probably a known animal, but I don’t think it’s a dog or a cat.
braddavery responds: July 29th, 2008 at 11:51 pm
I would bet a lot of money that this is the rotting corpse of a dog…most likely a pit bull. With all the hoopla surrounding the Michael Vick case, I’ll bet people who run dog-fighting circles are finding new ways of “disposing” their “space wasters”. It looks like they are tying their feet and tossing them in rivers and/or lakes so there is no evidence of their wrong-doing. I’m afraid we will probably see a lot more of this in the future… : (
size 13 responds: July 29th, 2008 at 11:54 pm
Otter!!!!
sschaper responds: July 29th, 2008 at 11:55 pm
My first impression was that it was a dead dog. After reading the comments, I still think it is.
xenobia responds: July 30th, 2008 at 12:05 am
Looks like a dead raccoon that’s been in the water a long time to me.
silverage responds: July 30th, 2008 at 12:19 am
It’s a fake folks, part of a viral ad campaign for an upcoming show.
DontCryBigfoot responds: July 30th, 2008 at 12:29 am
If real…. I’m thinking something more along the lines of maybe an otter.
Samson77 responds: July 30th, 2008 at 4:56 am
ksr and hudgeliberal nailed this one. I’m 100% sure its a dog, and 99% sure its a pit bull. I raise pits and the ears have a pit bull show cut. There are not too many dogs with that kind of muscularity (the neck is VERY pit like). Pits do not have their tails cut as a norm (boxers, rotts do).

The feet look like the skin over the nails has receded, giving the appearance of a claw.
youcantryreachingme responds: July 30th, 2008 at 6:33 am
Coming back to the canine dentition - see this image of a dog skull.

Do we have a higher resolution image of this critter? As pointed out, the forelegs appear tied-together. If it was an unknown animal then it seems a strange fate for it. More likely a dog being used as shark bait. It happens.
Spinach Village responds: July 30th, 2008 at 11:57 am
Who supplied the photo? The source of the photo is elusive to me.
Lightning Orb responds: July 30th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
Slightly reminiscent of the naked mole rat … At least as ugly
Spinach Village responds: July 31st, 2008 at 12:39 am
http://www.newsday.com/ny-lijoye0731,0,5442174.column

supposedly the body is currently rotting in somebodies backyard
charlie23 responds: July 31st, 2008 at 2:19 am
Enlarged and adjusted in photoshop, there is clearly a tail. As mentioned, the front paws are tied together with a strip of cloth and the “beak” is a protruding maxilla. Also the white area near the top of the head is an ear that appears to have been cut near the base. There is a collar around the neck which appears to have been - badly - photoshopped out where it would be most evident: the buckle is still visible under the jaw. The body has probably been in the water long enough for the hair to slough off, but it’s pretty obviously a dog carcass.
Sordes responds: July 31st, 2008 at 10:04 am
I still think a badger would be a good candidate. They are thicksat and with a stocky hindquater, and their forelegs are comparably long.
irish responds: July 31st, 2008 at 12:51 pm
100% certain: Domestic Canine

Note the tuft of hair beneath the neck. The skin discoloration/appearance is consistent with the corpse having been water-borne, with slight marine preditation, and then deposited on the beach and exposed to sunlight.

The only other option would be my mother-in-law, and I just got off the phone with her………dammit.
navarro77 responds: July 31st, 2008 at 3:38 pm
Why is there only one photo of this thing?! If it washed ashore and was dead why in the world didn’t someone take a lot of pictures of it to see if someone could indentify it…..seems a little fishy to me?!
bobg0038 responds: July 31st, 2008 at 5:05 pm
By the looks of the claws it looks like a tree sloth of some kind thats been in the water a while. The fur has come off ans the flesh on the snout has rotted away.
kwduhon responds: July 31st, 2008 at 9:08 pm
Strange how no one made mention of the restraint cord around the thing front legs or claws; if it’s a hoax then they have covered all bases but if it’s real then it escaped from somwhere; what was the name of the nearest island again? Don’t they do animal testing? That is a pretty thick cord.
Sordes responds: August 1st, 2008 at 6:29 am
Just for comparison some skull photos:
1) American badger (would also explain the long front claws);

2) Racoon; and

3) Pitbull Skull (note the high front not seen in the carcass).
ghostclone responds: March 29th, 2009 at 6:17 pm
This “monster” was part of a Monsterquest Episode a few weeks ago and is believed to be a Dog.

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