It’s a fisher, a bear with mange, a bear that just took a swim, a dog bear; these are some of the suggestions that flooded into The Era on Friday to define what sort of creature was caught in a photo by a stationary tree camera in the Allegheny National Forest.

The Pennsylvania Game Commission also contacted The Era about the photos taken by Elk County man Rick Jacobs’ camera, which had been mounted in September to try to record photos of deer.

“I shared the photos with the bear biologist,” said Jerry Feaser of the Game Commission. “There is no question it is a bear with a severe case of mange.”

He explained the wildlife conservation officers routinely trap and mark bears, and see the condition often.

“When people see something that doesn’t appear normal, they are confused about what they see and mistake it for something else,” Feaser said.

He even went so far as to chastise The Era for reporting the story of a questionable photo which some said may be a juvenile Bigfoot.

“Somebody may mistakenly identify something and the news media helps spread the rumor causing more concern and panic than necessary,” he said.

Feaser explained mange is caused by mites that live in hair follicles or burrow into the skin. If the bear’s immune system is weakened, “these mites can proliferate and mange develops.”

It may appear as dry, scaly skin around the eyes, or swollen, hairless, thickened skin, he said.

Referring to the first of three photos that are posted together on the Web site for the Bigfoot Research Organization, which contains bear cubs, Feaser said, “It is pretty clear to us this is probably a group of bears, an adult with young.”

The third of the group of photos shows the creature with its head towards the ground.

“It could be contorted,” Feaser said. “One of the things bears do is they will rub their heads on the ground just like dogs do.”

He added that mange is not considered “prolific to the point of concern” at this point, but the Game Commission is studying it.

Meanwhile, Matt Moneymaker, head of the Bigfoot Research Organization, said he agrees with Feaser on one point.

“Of course we want to know if it’s a bear with mange,” he said. If it’s proven to be such, “OK, then, mystery solved. We were wrong.”

So, the organization is setting out to replicate Jacobs’ photos.

“The debate now is whether it’s a mangy bear or a primate. There are decent arguments on both sides.

“If it’s a known animal, we should be able to replicate it,” he said. In doing so, members of the organization are seeking to obtain photos of bears with mange posed the same as the creature in the photos.

“The tale is going to be told in the photos,” he said. “We will have some comparison photos of skinny, mangy bears from behind and chimps and apes from behind.

“I think it’s going to be striking how different they are,” Moneymaker said, referring to pictures of bears.

Referring to the “Jacobs creature,” he said, “that thing does not have a tail. It doesn’t have any ears. If it was a bear with mange, you’d see that tail a lot more.”

From all the comments received via e-mail, the calls to The Era and the talk in the public, it seems that just one thing is certain — whatever it is in the photos, it has made people curious.

printer friendly version

e-mail this story

Reader Comments

There are No comments posted. comments to this story.
The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of bradfordera.com.

Submit a Comment

We encourage your feedback and dialog, all comments will be reviewed by our Web staff before appearing on the Web site.