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Naturalists Confirm Montauk Monster Is Relative Of Rocky Raccoon

Originally Posted: July 31, 2008

Aaron Boyd

  |   32 Comments · Print Article

The carcass washed up on the beach in front of Surfside Restaurant in Montauk and was photographed by one of the discoverers, Jenna Hewitt.
Montauk - The "Montauk Monster" as the mania of internet bloggers have dubbed him, is a two-foot long carnivorous specimen that washed up on a Montauk beach Sunday, July 13, sparking wild speculation and generally making people's skin crawl, is now conventionally believed to be a relative of Rocky, the raccoon. Larry Penny, director of Natural Resources for the Town of East Hampton, believes the creature is a raccoon in the beginning stages of a watery decay.

Confirming that educated guess, wildlife biologist Jeff Corwin, of international acclaim, appeared on Fox News to help identify the animal. "It appears to be an incredibly rare raccoon," Corwin offered with amusement. Corwin classified the animal as a carnivorous mammal due to teeth and evidence of a once hirsute body, now in the early stages of decomposition.

The skull of a deceased raccoon.

With a facial feature reminiscent of a 'beak,' throwing most onlookers off track in identifying the monster, experts say it is more likely the bony remnants of a raccoon's snout and the bottom row of teeth disqualify assertions that this is a shell-less turtle. Corwin professionally disposed of the turtle theory pointing out that a turtle's spine is connected to the inside of its shell, making a separation more gruesome than Rocky's sheen, glossy back reveals.

A look at a raccoon's paw shows the
long, extended fingers similar to
the mysterious creature.

The hands have led conspiracy theorists to mark the discovery of an evolved mammal with clawed flippers. However the crushed, water-rot paws match more closely with diagrams of small mammals and Rocky's extended middle finger seems to suggest separated digits.

Raccoons are native to coastal marshes, a prevalent landscape on the East End, and regularly thrive in residential areas. Rocky may be just another unfortunate, unwitting casualty of rough seas.




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Guest from Denver, PA says::
There is no such thing as a "Rocky" Raccoon. Rocky Raccoon is the title of a Beatles song.
Jun 2, 2013 1:53 am

Guest (Michele) from Westhampton, Long Island says::
Just saw "Mermaids" on Animal Planet channel. Couldn't help remembering the animal I saw at Cupsogue Beach at the west end of Dune Road. It definitely wasn't a racoon. Could it be related to the mermaid people???
May 30, 2013 4:39 pm

Guest (allan lloyd) from cola s.c says::
the creature is in fact my mother in law
Aug 18, 2012 1:58 pm

Guest (Makenzie) from Puyallup, WA says::
I think it's a raccoon?
Jul 14, 2011 10:33 pm

Guest (Gordon) from South Dakota says::
You guys are HILARIOUS! it's a raccoon with a mangled upper jaw. Simple as that. I appreciate the creativity though:)
May 18, 2011 10:27 am

Guest (Guest) from Georgia says::
when did raccoons and dogs grow beaks?
Nov 4, 2010 1:08 pm

Guest (Guest) from FL says::
That is real, and no, it is not a raccoon or a type of water animal. It is something that Plum Island experimented on; they are injecting bacteria, messing with diffrent animals bodies. They even found a human with very long fingers that washed ashore wih drills in his head. This is not something to laugh about, this is real, this is the goverments project. Plam Island is not an animal control center, it is a place were they make new desieses and test them on animals. The goverment doesn't care about us, they want to learn new ways to. They could whipe half the population within days...I don't trust them...
Oct 29, 2010 10:02 pm

Guest (thetruth) from Chicago, IL says::
Look, i just want to end this once and for all. Yes, this thing is real. No, it is not necessarilly a monster, but it is a hybrid. It used to be a land based animal, but over the centuries it adapted to live in the water. How do i prove this? Simple. Why else woould it be found so close to the shoreline, and on long island New York which is mainly surrounded by water. Look at its form: it has the form of a land based animal, but its adapted to the water (notice the webbings on its hands and feet, and the leathery skin. If it lived on land, it wouldnt be able to survive without some kind of fur, especially in the North. But since it adapted to the water, it doesnt need fur anymore) Also, look at the eyes. The pigment is a very light yellow, which means that it isnt used the the sunlight, which means its either a cave dweller (unlikely) or it lives deep in the ocean.
Mar 7, 2010 1:25 pm

Guest (jeff) from Seattle, WA says::
.... Stating that this is a raccoon is radical. For one, water decay doesn't bloat length, no, it bloats width. I should know because I work in forensics and have seen human beings bloated by water damage.. You can tell by the over-sized stomach that this HAS gone through water decay and most likely lost small patches of fur around the mouth and nose area. Due to the lack of coloration (bruising) in already pigment complexion the jaw was not destroyed... The next thing you dolts don't see is that the nose is the same complexion as the rest of this body, even with water decay it wouldn't change shape drastically. This IS a variety of mammal we've not seen before that probably emerged an ocean of lake somewhere, the ocean is constantly recreating new forms of life never seen before by man.. Why not something like this?
Sep 26, 2009 1:55 am

Guest (Tw) from Florida says::
I have seen some crazy things in the mueseam of natural history in NY...our planet evolves...why not our animals. I don't believe we have seen everything or know everything about the world we live in...but not a raccoon! Have you seen the panama alien thing than washed up on their shores? crazy stuff!
Sep 23, 2009 12:04 pm

Guest (Tom ) from MI says::
First off, you cant perform testing on an animal that would give it a beak, so all of you who think it is some experiment are wrong. This is a raccoon, that is not a beak, its a mangled upper jaw.
May 2, 2009 1:30 am

Guest (lilmajor) from baltimore md. says::
come on!!!! there are no such things as monsters or mythical creatures.If any body(person or animal)is in water for that long obviously there gonna look like a monster or some kind of creature.This isnt some scifi movie here! It is very possible that it is a racoon.Its just decomposed and bloated(ya know,it came out of the water!!)
Apr 2, 2009 12:22 am

Guest (daniel murff) from clarksville, tn. says::
when the story hit the tv I knew in 15 seconds that it was positively a raccoon from fur, teeth, and front hand or paw. I have cleaned and ate a lot of raccoons and raccoonc can be found anywhere in the 49 states!!
Apr 1, 2009 3:56 pm

Guest (melika) from newark new jersey says::
I had seen some of the articles. its so crazy about raccoons. l'm so afraid of those . wild beast.
Mar 27, 2009 12:00 am

Guest (jennifer vorraro) from http://imstillmejustbetter.blogspot.com/ says::
That's my picture. It looked like an animal that had been soaking in water for forever. Disgusting yes. Monster? Nah.
Aug 26, 2008 10:01 am

Guest (leah) from chicago il says::
okay ppl pll its not a raccon and its a water land creature from the ice age or someting cuse i belive in stange creathers .
Aug 22, 2008 5:56 pm

Guest (puh-leaze) from Sag Harbor RESIDENT says::
Riiggghhhhht, there are just so many raccoons on hamptons beaches...you know, they hang out with the piping plovers and do the crossword....I mean you just about trip over them every ten feet....Give me a break.
Aug 17, 2008 4:31 pm

Guest (East Hampton Resident) from East Hampton says::
The mystery of the Montauk Monster has been solved....Splinterheads scandal? You be the judge. www.Montauk-Monster.com Fred.
Aug 7, 2008 2:50 am

Guest (the wise one) from KCK says::
it looks like a pitbull or one of those dogs with a short nose
Aug 6, 2008 12:14 am

Guest (West Coast dude) from Not east coast says::
People who are saying "that looks nothing like a racoon" clearly are young kids who don't fully understand the effects of water and decomposition on a dead animal. This "monster" was obviously hairy at one point. and by close up photos you can clearly see what people think is a beak is just the top part of the snout with holes where teeth used to be. most definately a Raccoon.
Aug 5, 2008 5:42 pm

Guest (sticky) from nort c says::
racoons live off of people. they can not survive in the wild without sheds, decks, attics, crawl spaces, and such to live on, not to mention garbag, bird seed, and other food we give this animal. how is it nobody has seen this animal before. it should have been captured by someone whose home it has broken into. i would like to believe it's from the magical land of plum island. would be more interesting
Aug 5, 2008 2:04 pm

Guest (sundaygravy) from Cranston, RI says::
Its a Manbearpig.
Aug 4, 2008 2:26 pm

Guest (studragon) from sag harbor says::
I have two words to add to the other comments: PLUM ISLAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Aug 4, 2008 9:59 am

Guest (dinner) from somewhrer ny says::
raccon my ass
Aug 3, 2008 11:59 am

Guest (Registered Voter) from Indiana says::
Dear dear Texas Montauket, it's obvious how it got to where it was. It was merely following the last goat-blood sucking varmint that left Texas, only this one didn't make it all the way to D.C. and the White House.
Aug 2, 2008 6:41 pm

Guest (lady tada) from ny, ny says::
a raccoon, PLEASE!! does not look anything like the deceased raccoon that is shown. let's be real, it's a lab tested animal that formed into some type of creature. we already know how screwed up this country is, let's start being honest with the citizens.
Aug 2, 2008 4:44 pm

Guest (YeahRight) from NYC says::
Let me tell u the story of this creature: One day some scientists were doing one of their experiments and this is what came out from it... then, accidentally the creature escaped from them and now that people found it they don't want anybody to know about this, so they're saying it's a raccoon... PLEASEEEE ....PEOPLE Grow up already! We don't believe your little stories...
Aug 2, 2008 12:00 am

Guest (robert de masco) from middlepond rd says::
looks like its related to it to me
Aug 2, 2008 12:00 am

Guest (Texas Montauket) from Montauk, NY says::
This is clearly a chupacabra, the dangerous mysterious goat-blood sucking monster from south Texas. The mystery is how it got from south Texas to Montauk. I didn't bring it.
Aug 1, 2008 9:32 pm

Guest (Peabody) from Chicago, IL says::
GN's comment was hilarious. I was thinking the exact same thing. Peace out.
Aug 1, 2008 7:49 pm

Guest (GN) from Orlando, FL says::
That picture of the skull, how can we be sure it's not of a LIVE raccoon? :) It's amazing how long it took "experts" to figure this out when just a little Google detective work provided the answer. http://www.animachina.com/images/whatisit/montauk_monster_is_raccoon.jpg
Aug 1, 2008 2:41 pm

Guest (noorys boy) from southampton says::
Noory was right the end is near
Aug 1, 2008 12:00 am

 

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