A baffling creature spotted strolling alongside a group of deer in a West Virginia park has left residents and experts alike scratching their heads.

The unusual sighting took place on October 24, as Brittany Keller was driving to work in Huntington. Passing by Ritter Park, she noticed something strange moving among a herd of grazing deer. Curious, Keller pulled over and began filming—capturing clear footage of a peculiar animal that appeared to be calmly walking with the group.

“It just didn’t look like anything I’ve ever seen before,” she said. “It was moving like it belonged there, but it definitely wasn’t a deer.”

Since then, the mysterious footage has sparked widespread speculation online and among wildlife professionals about what the strange creature could be.

After Brittany Keller shared the video with her neighbors and posted it on social media, the Huntington community lit up with curiosity. The mysterious creature quickly became the talk of the town, sparking a wave of speculation and debate.

Despite dozens of guesses, most residents were left scratching their heads—no one could quite pin down what the animal was. Even Keller was stumped after reviewing the footage more closely.

“I knew it was something unusual,” she told WSAZ News. “When I stopped for a better look, I realized—it wasn’t anything I’d ever seen around here before.”

As the video made its rounds online, speculation exploded. Some viewers floated the theory that the creature might be a lemur—citing its odd gait and slender frame. But experts were quick to shut that down, noting that lemurs are native to Madagascar, more than 9,000 miles from West Virginia, and unlikely park visitors.

Animal expert Andy McKee offered a more grounded explanation. Speaking to WSAZ, McKee said the creature “resembles a fox suffering from mange”—a contagious skin condition caused by mites. The disease can lead to hair loss, thickened skin, scabbing, and a gaunt, alien-like appearance.

According to McKee, the most likely scenario is that the mystery animal is a local fox, severely affected by mange—its fur lost and features distorted enough to baffle even longtime residents.

Interestingly, the Huntington sighting wasn’t the only bizarre animal encounter to stir headlines in October. Just two days earlier, on October 22, the Bristol Zoo Project in England shared a puzzling trail camera photo that left experts equally baffled.

Captured in the zoo’s ancient woodland, the image showed what appeared to be a “winged and horned creature” standing near a muntjac deer. The photo quickly went viral, with the zoo turning to the public for help in identifying the strange figure.

In a social media post, the Bristol Zoo team explained that their camera traps are typically used to monitor local wildlife—but this creature was unlike anything they’d recorded before. To aid comparison, the zoo posted a daytime photo of a muntjac deer, a small species with short antlers that can sometimes resemble horns, but even then, the mystery figure in the photo defied easy explanation.

While these strange sightings continue to fuel speculation and wonder, one thing is certain: the natural world still holds its fair share of mysteries. From the wooded trails of West Virginia to the ancient forests of England, these curious encounters remind us that nature often defies expectations—leaving behind more questions than answers about what might still be roaming in the wild.