Sightings of and attacks apparently by strange animals on dogs in the rural areas of two American states have led to intelligent speculation about both mutant dogs on the loose, and even the existence of the dire wolf, a creature thought to have been extinct for 10,000 years.
This documentary examines the evidence, and there is a lot of it, including the carcass of an animal found by a woman and sent to the laboratory for analysis. One would have expected DNA to be able to answer the riddle conclusively, but the best result that could be obtained was that this was probably an ordinary domestic dog, but it "might" have been crossed with a wolf.
Feral dogs – ordinary pooches that may have been abandoned or simply lost – can take on a distinctly undoglike appearance without grooming, especially if they have the mange. This might explain the attacks on domestic dogs; some appear to have retained a taste for common or garden dog food. There are also larger predators in Montana.
That being said, this is a riddle that will probably not be solved definitively unless and until something remarkable is found. The term Loch Ness Monster springs to mind.
This documentary examines the evidence, and there is a lot of it, including the carcass of an animal found by a woman and sent to the laboratory for analysis. One would have expected DNA to be able to answer the riddle conclusively, but the best result that could be obtained was that this was probably an ordinary domestic dog, but it "might" have been crossed with a wolf.
Feral dogs – ordinary pooches that may have been abandoned or simply lost – can take on a distinctly undoglike appearance without grooming, especially if they have the mange. This might explain the attacks on domestic dogs; some appear to have retained a taste for common or garden dog food. There are also larger predators in Montana.
That being said, this is a riddle that will probably not be solved definitively unless and until something remarkable is found. The term Loch Ness Monster springs to mind.
