Most people will probably remember the Montauk Monster that washed up in the Hamptons back in 2008, or the Cerro Azul monster that we blogged about last September. Now it seems that another strange, hairless, bloated creatures has washed ashore, this time at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge, and people have already dubbed it the “Beast of Brooklyn” or “Manhattan Monster.”
When the article mentioned the “Beast of Brooklyn,” I was expecting to see pictures of this girl I went to junior high school with. Thankfully, this is far less disturbing.
Mystery surrounds the discovery of a hideous creature washed up under the Brooklyn Bridge in New York.
Dubbed the “Manhattan monster,” its ghoulish carcass has a mutilated face, hairless flesh and five human-like fingers at the end of its limbs. The gruesome find has sparked an array of theories as to whether it is a giant water-logged rodent, a cooked pig, a swollen dog — or something more sinister.
Amateur photographer Denise Ginley snapped the mutant creature while walking along the East River on Sunday.
“We were horrified by it and we took some camera phone pictures,” she said. “Then finally we decided to come back with my camera and I got up the courage to climb over the fence and get closer to it.”
Some claim it could be related to the mystery “Montauk Monster,” which confounded New Yorkers when it washed up at Ditch Plains beach in the exclusive Hamptons in July 2008.
But the New York Parks Department shrugged off the horrifying find, insisting it was just a pig.
A spokesman said they had disposed of the creature, adding: “It was a pig left over from a cookout.”
“It was a roasted pig. We didn’t count its toes, we just threw it out.”
But people doubting the official line point to the beast’s creepy, human-like hands and feet — which bear no resemblance to a porker’s hooves.
“The Parks Department was probably very quick to identify it as a pig and dispose of it, but it is most certainly not a pig,” Ginley added.
“The most obvious sign being the lack of a cloven hoof, instead this creature has five digits all close together.”
She believes the creature is “some sort of raccoon or giant rodent.”
The photographer said: “The missing upper jaw makes it very difficult to identify and the lack of distinct canine teeth of the lower jaw is confusing.”
Wildlife specialist Dr. Paul Curtis suggests it could be a small dog that died and swelled in the murky river.
I know this may be news to people outside New York City, but we New York natives are pretty used to having bloated carcasses and strange things floating in the East River. All kidding aside (yeah…I was just…kidding), this definitely seems to be just some normal animal that is in a stage of decay that just makes it look a little otherworldly. What do you think it is?
eeeewwwww! I love it! Could it be a giant nutria that’s missing a maxilla (upper “jaw”)?
Definitely NOT a pig–no cloven hooves (guess it can’t be everyone’s favorite pitchfork wielder either) and no short, curly tail! Being a water rodent, if it’s a Nutria (a live one) it should have webbing between its toes; webbing could’ve fallen victim to whatever got the face. Nutria’s were brought to the US years ago with the specific intent to market them as an alternative (read that “cheap”) food source for poor people. Somehow, ‘mericans never did take to eating rodents with the same gusto (& frankly, the flair) as the rat catchers on the Indian subcontinent. Wonder why….? Anyway, when the food thing didn’t work out, many of them were released into the wild. Louisiana now deals with its share of Nutria induced problems. They’re a water rodent and tend to undermine shorelines (very important for LA economy) with their den building & baby raising. Guess this little guy could be a naked, bloated raccoon corpse with a REALLY long snout…without DNA we may never know. Keep the strangeness coming! Great job.
@oakley Thanks! You bring up lots of good points. I can see why people would think this was a pig at first glance. But it’s definitely not a pig. A nutria is very possible, and it could just as likely be a dog or some such animal. Hopefully someone will do some DNA testing to see what this really is.
eeeewwwww! I love it! Could it be a giant nutria that’s missing a maxilla (upper “jaw”)?
Definitely NOT a pig–no cloven hooves (guess it can’t be everyone’s favorite pitchfork wielder either) and no short, curly tail! Being a water rodent, if it’s a Nutria (a live one) it should have webbing between its toes; webbing could’ve fallen victim to whatever got the face. Nutria’s were brought to the US years ago with the specific intent to market them as an alternative (read that “cheap”) food source for poor people. Somehow, ‘mericans never did take to eating rodents with the same gusto (& frankly, the flair) as the rat catchers on the Indian subcontinent. Wonder why….? Anyway, when the food thing didn’t work out, many of them were released into the wild. Louisiana now deals with its share of Nutria induced problems. They’re a water rodent and tend to undermine shorelines (very important for LA economy) with their den building & baby raising. Guess this little guy could be a naked, bloated raccoon corpse with a REALLY long snout…without DNA we may never know. Keep the strangeness coming! Great job.
@oakley Thanks! You bring up lots of good points. I can see why people would think this was a pig at first glance. But it’s definitely not a pig. A nutria is very possible, and it could just as likely be a dog or some such animal. Hopefully someone will do some DNA testing to see what this really is.