Comments on: Hillsborough’s Cryptid: Dog, Baboon?

By: norman-uk

norman-uk — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 15:55:26 +0000

cryptidsrus

”If it’s a squirrel, it’s a MIGHTY BIG one!!! Holy You-know-what!!!”

Well this is America! Biggest squirrel in the world, the fox squirrel. 2ft long and weighing 2 lbs, Got a bit of an orangish tinge. How big does it need to be anyway.

Still could be a stray macaque or tapas wandered here or hitched a ride.

NB You had me looking up clarifactory and clarifaction is in the dictionary so I cannot complain!

By: tampasteve

tampasteve — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:23:26 +0000

While there may be many escaped macaques in Florida they are not known in this area at all. The main group is in Silver Springs area of Florida, about 100 miles from this site. Also, the escaped Patas monkeys from last year were also not anywhere near this area of Tampa. The Patas monkeys were about 50 miles away, and all have been captured.

I would not rule out macaque but it is not part of a known population. This is in a very urban area of town that is not at all close to a known population and it would not be easy for one to get here. There are also not any large areas of forest nearby to support a population of these animals for any long term. Of course they could subsist on refuse, but not without being seen until now.

If indeed it turns out to be a monkey of some sort it will likely be a new escaped pet rather than from a semi-wild population.

Steve

By: Dj Plasmic Nebula

Dj Plasmic Nebula — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:24:04 +0000

Baby skunkape or unkown variety of skunkape

By: cryptidsrus

cryptidsrus — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:35:36 +0000

Norman-Uk:
If it’s a squirrel, it’s a MIGHTY BIG one!!! Holy You-know-what!!!
I happen to agree with Shumway10973. I’m not saying the gentleman did not see a baboon, but if he did, the animal in the photgraph is not THAT ONE. Wrong color. Who knows???

By: norman-uk

norman-uk — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:57:53 +0000

Could be two different animals, a macaque of which Florida has thousands or a sighting of a seperate animal a baboon seen in the road. The colour seems to more like the macaque than a baboon.

There is another less likely possibility a patas monkey which is well coloured and there is a history of escapes in this area. There may now be reasons for an owner not to admit ownership.

Has the possibilty of the large squirrel found in Florida been considered.

By: shumway10973

shumway10973 — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:40:17 +0000

If it’s a baboon the picture at top isn’t of “it”. The picture up top is something with more orange fur. A baboon, of any type of baboon, has beige fur. Then if these are the same animals I would say not a small animal, baboons are at least the size of a medium dog. The picture up top I still say looks like a cat. I think we are talking of 2 different things here.

By: Artist

Artist — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:52:49 +0000

Poor animal is gonna be the butt of a lot of jokes.

By: tampasteve

tampasteve — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:43:15 +0000

I read about this in the paper this morning. I live just north of Tampa and work about 2 miles from the temple mentioned in the article. I would not be surprised if it were an escapee, people in the area have monkeys and other exotics. Aside from that it could easily be a dog that escaped (there is a kennel about 300 feet from the temple) from wherever it was being kept. It could be a lot of things, but my guess is dog or escapee.

Steve