‘What do you think I am?’ animal rescue asks of freezing creature found in Pennsylvania

A four-legged creature was recently rescued from freezing cold temperatures in Pennsylvania, but what exactly the animal is has left experts puzzled.

Christina Eyth said she followed paw prints to find the animal outside her basement door in Fairfield Township, WPXI reported.

Initially thinking it was a dog, she kept the animal in her basement as it was “freezing... skiddish and scared,” she said on Facebook.

TJ’s Rescue Hideaway, a local non-profit foster-based rescue organization, was called to Eyth’s home, but they weren’t sure if the animal was a dog. So Wildlife Works in Mount Pleasant was called to help identify the animal.

The organization, which specializes in deer, raccoons, mammals and rabies vector species, said it has started treatment and collected a sample to determine what the creature is. It will likely take two to four weeks before they know anything.

“What do you think I am, dog or coyote?” the organization asked on Facebook.

Morgan Barron with Wildlife Works described the animal as “very timid, very scared and not aggressive,” which leads her to believe it is a dog.

“I honestly can’t definitively say what it is, but to err on the side of caution, since they can carry rabies and since it might be a coyote ... (we will) get genetic testing done and go from there,” Barron told WPXI.

Eyth said if the creature is a dog, TJ’s Rescue Hideaway will take care of him to help return him to full strength.

“He is eating, warm, but still scared.” Eyth said in a Facebook post. “No matter the results this animal will be helped thanks to all those involved!”

Fairfield Township is located 60 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.

This story was originally published January 21, 2022 at 12:32 PM with the headline "‘What do you think I am?’ animal rescue asks of freezing creature found in Pennsylvania."