Monsters and mysterious beasts are usually created by the press even when such cases are authentic, but far less dramatic. In May of 2007 it was reported that two bears, a mother and cub were prowling Bradbury, a gated suburb of Los Angeles. According to the press, the animals had come into town and been seen roaming the streets, padding between parked vehicles and sniffing at driveways of houses. Officials at the time claimed that if the animals were caught they would be tranquilized and released into the wilds.

Shortly after several rumours circulated that there were in fact three bears on the loose and one had been caught at the foothills of the San Gabriel Valley. The first of the bears, which made its presence known at Lemon Street, was reported after it killed a chicken. The animals were filmed raiding trash cans before the authorities from Temple Station converged upon the area and captured them.

During early 2008 a strange bird was reported over Hollwood after several sightings of the winged wonder which experts believed to be a yellow-bellied bananaquit, native to the West Indies whilst also travelling as far as parts of South America. Although such a creature may have been glimpsed in the United states four years previous, bird watchers were all a flutter over the possibility it had returned, with several spotters swarming to back yards in the hope of catching a glimpse.

Unfortunately, such wayward creatures rarely become the stuff of folklore unless of course they begin to terrorize locals and are eventually shot or slip into darkness where their mysterious aura heightens panic, and enables them to become part of legend.

Photo by debaird on flickr