The recently discovered bloated carcass near the East River’s beach was previously thought to be either a dog or a fried pig.

The Department Chair of Zoology at Weber State University Dr. Sam Zeveloff, now tells us that he and his colleagues think the mutilated creature is most likely a raccoon.

“Several of us here think it is a raccoon! Its dentition from what can be seen, most resembles a raccoon’s; so do its fingers,” he wrote in an email.

The Montauk Monster, a similar looking bloated creature that washed up on a Montauk beach in 2008, was also determined to be a raccoon.

Shown below is the bottom-side of raccoon paw, which appears to have fingers similar to the East River creature.