Photos of mystical creatures from all over the world have been around as long as photography has existed. Unfortunately, dozens of “evidences” for the existence of Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, the Mothman or the Goat Man are often only blurry and blurry.
Since 2013, however, there has been a surprisingly good recording of a creature that many Internet users identify as the “Jersey Devil”. We're going on a monster hunt...
The above image is said to have appeared on Reddit in 2013, the descriptive text says the following:
This unusual animal was spotted quickly balancing over a wooden fence in New Jersey.
Unfortunately, who exactly took the picture is unknown. But everyone online is speculating about what the black-skinned creature with the long thin tail, long toes and long snout could be. The photo has also been checked several times and so far no external influence via Photoshop or other programs has been identified.
Jersey Devils?
If you've never heard of it, you'd be forgiven, as the Jersey Devil is an urban legend that is widespread in New Jersey/USA. According to this, in the 18th century, a certain Ms. Leeds, who lived in a heavily wooded area in New Jersey, shouted “Oh, let this one be a devil” while pregnant with her 13th child be"). After birth, the creature is said to have escaped from the chimney.
The Jersey Devil is described as a creature with two legs, hooves, short arms, wings, a long tail and of course black (as befits a devil).
Image source: Wikipedia /Philadelphia Post 1909
Is the photo manipulated?
That's the first question that comes to mind when taking photos of strange creatures. But actually this image has not been manipulated in any way, it is an original photo.
Where was the photo taken?
Lt. According to the description, the photo was taken in New Jersey (which also makes sense if you are writing about the Jersey Devil), as all other sites that report on that photo agree. A night-long search using Google Street View through New Jersey, satellite images and filtering the Internet for all photos worldwide from 2013 didn't get us anywhere ( dramatized representation ). But finally we found what we were looking for...
Native America
In the US state with the slogan “Native America”, namely Oklahoma, we finally found a lead. We could have come to that straight away: Native America, mystical creature… but how did the Jersey Devil get there? Let's ask people who know about it!
“Hello yous… what is this?”
So we virtually checked in with the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (ODWC) on Facebook. If anyone knows anything about the state, it would be these ladies and gentlemen, right? And if there are mystical creatures hanging around in the woods there that may have come as illegal immigrants from New Jersey, then they know about it!
Oh, surprise! The picture didn't first appear on Reddit, but on their site :
Squirrels?
A squirrel? Guys, are you sure about this? Is this really what a squirrel without fur looks like? Or is this perhaps a conspiracy to cover up the existence of mystical creatures? We want more evidence pictures!
Okay, you can have it
The ODWC was kind enough another picture of the cute little animal:
Conclusion
Not a Jersey Devil, not even photographed in New Jersey, but a naked fox squirrel in Oklahoma. The ODWC writes in explanation of the second image:
“In the pictures you can clearly see the physical characteristics of a fox squirrel.
The angle at which the first photo was taken shows how easy it is to make mistakes when identifying an animal if it looks different than usual. Without fur you can see every muscle, every wrinkle, even the length of the tail is much more obvious, but this changes our perception. In both photos the most obvious attributes of a fox squirrel can be seen: the characteristic ears and head as well as the posture of the animal... and the nut in the second picture is also a good clue!”
So we have to keep looking for mystical creatures. Maybe in the author's fridge. The cheese in it has been making strange noises lately.
Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )