"I think this dead animal is a chow or chow-mix, a relatively small dog, that was feral, which is unusual for that area," he told the Sun Journal newspaper. He noted, however, that his was only an educated guess based on the findings so far.
State wildlife biologists and local animal control officers declined to go to Turner to examine the remains of the animal, which was found Saturday along Route 4. It was apparently hit by a car while chasing a cat.
Without any official findings, the creature obtained near-mythical status as word spread in the media and on the Internet.
Some say it's simply a dog. Others say it's a goat-sheep hybrid. Still others weighed in that the creature may have been a Tasmanian devil, a dingo, a wolf or coyote. Some of the more outlandish theories involve mutations and extraterrestrials.
People from Litchfield, Sabattus, Greene, Turner, Lewiston and Auburn have come forward to speak of a mystery monster that roams the woods.
Can I just say, that in these days of digital cameras and camera phones and video phones, there is not nearly enough visual documentation of this creature? The one picture I saw on Drudge yesterday is just not cutting it. This is an inexcusable failure by citizen journalists.