"Ratfox" prowling North End neighborhoods

There were sighting this weekend of a strange looking "wild" creature that appears to live close to the Coginchaug River as it passes through North End Middletown neighborhoods.

Four adults relaxing on a back porch noticed the strange-looking creature as it stalked away down a bank toward the river.  One adult took the picture attached to this article.  The "ratfox" can be seen stalking away in the center of the photo.

Another family spotted the "ratfox" prowling near the landfill at the end of Johnson Street.  In this case the animal peered at the family warily and than ran away.

"It was scrawny, and thin and had visible teats," one witness said, perhaps indicating that this female creature is raising a nest full of baby "ratfoxes."

"My daughter was so scared of the animal that she wanted to be sure that the ratfox was not going to come into her bedroom that night to get her," the witness said.

Described as looking like a small dog with a rat-like tail, witnesses speculated that the creature was the product of interbreeding.

"A grey fox, or a coyote that interbred with a dog?  A bobcat that mated with a house cat?" one witness wondered.  Whatever its source, it appears that the Coginchaug has its own mythical beast, neither chupacabra nor sasquatch, but a Coginchaug ratfox.