Staten Island is famous (or infamous) for many things, but monsters and cryptids are not really among them. Sure, we’ve had lots of UFO sightings, creepy clowns, mystery sounds, alligators in the sewers, and even a Bigfoot sighting back in the ’70s, but sadly (for me, anyways) we don’t have a cryptid, a Staten Island Devil, as it were. But this past weekend, buzz began swirling about our own version of the Montauk Monster washing up on a Staten Island beach. Was it a chupacabra? A unique Staten Island cryptid? Or, like it’s Long Island cousin, just a dead, bloated raccoon? I’ll give you three guesses.
He died searching for fresh mozz.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — As Staten Islanders gear up for summer, a strange carcass that resembles the remains discovered on a Long Island beach over 10 years ago was found on the beach at Wolfe’s Pond Park in Prince’s Bay over the weekend.
“I was walking the beach at Wolfe’s Pond Park with my girlfriend and dog, and found this washed up on the beach,” wrote Huguenot resident John Graziano in an email to the Advance, referring to the photo above. “It kind of looks like the thing that washed up on Long Island a few years back.”
The image went viral, and soon millions were trying to figure out the true story of the creature, which came to be known as the “Montauk Monster.”
Was it a raccoon? Or was it the remnants of an experiment from a nearby animal research facility? Or maybe it never existed at all ….
We may never know the true story of Long Island’s “Montauk Monster” — but if any reader has thoughts about Staten Island’s creature, please share in the comments section, or email csommer@siadvance.com.
I’m fairly certain that just like the Montauk Monster, this is simply a dead raccoon. A sea otter and a dog are also good guesses, but this looks an awful lot like the Montauk creature, so I’d say raccoon. So for now, unfortunately, Staten Island must remain monsterless. Unless you count the people who insist on saying “mootzadell” when they are referring to mozzarella cheese.
