Whilst browsing I noticed this story in the Daily Mail. True to form, the Mail describes the ‘beast’ as:
…savaging animals and terrorising villagers… It has been variously described as a wild boar, a hyena and a ferocious wolf… They say it’s to blame for the recent deer slayings…
Make your own mind up from this grainy picture:
To be honest, it looks like an overweight labrador. And have you ever wondered why (if I may borrow from Futurama for a moment) these things always typically dwell just behind rocks or in distant long grass but are also sometimes playful, bounding into thick fogs and out-of-focus areas? Just like Bigfoot.
Can’t someone with a decent camera (and who doesn’t have the balance of a 90 year old) take a good picture just for once?
Anyway, I wonder if Nick Pope is on the case yet?
One villager (or should it be ‘village idiot’?) is convinced it is a hyena. This is because he came down one morning after the beast had rifled his bins and…
‘All the rubbish was strewn over my garden. This happened on a few occasions and one night I heard snuffles and looked out of my window and saw some kind of hyena standing rigid on its back legs.’
Wow. Round this way it is only foxes that do this. I never considered it might be Hyenas that live under next door’s shed!
He then then continues to refer to it as a wolf – being relatively unconcerned by the fact that in every other country in the world wolves avoid humans by at least a zillion miles, and oblivious to the minor detail that wolves and hyenas are actually different animals. But this is a Lancashire village we’re dealing with (and he’s probably also a Manchester Utd supporter).
EDIT 20/1/2010: This is proving popular. Within 10 minutes of posting it I’m getting loads of hits – many of which are from places like Manchester, Blackburn, and Batley! Village Idiot country!
EDIT 21/1/2010: I noticed in the comments on the Daily Mail version of the story someone called Daniel Cook, from Ringmer, has written some very wise advice. This man is obviously an expert, and the Buckshaw authorities ought to call him in (along with Nick Pope, of course) as soon as possible to end the bloodshed and loss of life in the village:
It looks like a hyena if it is then it MUST be stopped before it attacks a person
Oh, won’t someone PLEEEEASE think of the children? I add this quote because whoever is out there looking to recapture Mr Cook needs to know he is down in East Sussex.