A strange animal has been reported in northeastern Baltimore County. Again. But this isn’t the Weird Sampson fox or the ugly mini-hyena of Glyndon – it’s a whole new weirdness. Every so often, strange animal sightings crop up, exciting armchair cryptozoologists.

Early on Friday morning February 6, 2009, between midnight and 12:30, Daniel D. and Mike J. were driving toward Baltimore on Manor Road in Baltimore County when the strange creature crossed their path.

“It was about the size of a Labrador retriever,” said Dan D. with a shudder.

The beast was high-hipped, its back sloping toward the front. Two long back legs were shaped like those of a dog while the front legs were noticeably shorter. It had a short tail and prominent claws on each foot. The back of its head resembled that of a short-eared dog. Going toward the front of the head, the dog shape gradually changed to that of a pig with a flattened, snout-like nose.

Unperturbed by the car’s approach, despite the high beams, the animal moved forward at a comfortable pace.

“It didn’t move like a dog,” said Mike J. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

It has been postulated that the animal was a young black bear. Though unusual in the area, black bears have popped up in unlikely places in Maryland – St. Mary’s County, Halethorpe in Baltimore County and on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.

“I’ve seen bears before,” said Dan. “This thing had thinner legs and didn’t walk with a waddle like a bear.”

“Maybe it was a dog,” I suggested during our interview.

Dan laughed. “No way it was a dog. I know what a dog looks like and believe me, this was no dog.”

Dan described the creature to an ‘artist’ sort of like they used to do with criminals before they started up with that program that does it for you and put the artists out of work or reduced them to drawing sketches of people at carnivals. The drawing was modified as Dan watched and he seemed pleased with the result.

“Only it was facing the other way,” he said.

People often report seeing unusual creatures, especially at night. Sometimes poor vision (due to the darkness) affects the appearance of moving animals. Seeing something you don’t expect (say a bear crossing a street in Baltimore County) may lead you to believe, well, anything.

Reported sightings of a weird fox-like creature turned out to be a fox with mange, Close encounters with a mangy fox may be preceded by a terrible stench. Other reports have been thought to be a weird Sampson fox, that is a fox with a genetic problem that inhibits the growth of guard hairs, those long, beautiful hairs that give a normal fox its distinctive style. People were willing to call the weird foxes mini-hyenas or some odd hybrid. If you're not sure what you are seeing, sometimes your brain just makes something up.

The animal recently seen on Manor road now has a sort of fan club, or ‘group’ on Facebook. They all it the Pig Dog of Manor Road because of its similarity to both pig and dog. Maybe it was a ‘monster,’ a genetic freak like wandered off the island of Doctor Mureau. Maybe it was a young bear. Maybe it was just an ugly dog.

Maybe someone else has seen this or a similar creature. If so, please leave a comment below.