Sploid, a consistently good source for freaky animal news, has a story today about a mysterious creature that’s turned up at the Tyco Electronics headquarters in North Carolina. It’s a lovely, graceful thing that looks like a dog crossed with a fox crossed with a faun.

Local officials say the animal is a Samson fox, a nearly hairless species of red fox. Sploid seems to think that there’s something unsavory afoot:

Newspaper and TV reporters have been turned away from the Tyco complex and workers are no longer allowed to speak to the media about the bizarre events, the Greensboro News-Record reported Thursday

Sploid links to a hunting website, North Carolina Deer Talk where it says photos of the animal were originally posted. A few people responding to the “what the hell is this” query suggested Whompus Cat. Another suggestion, that it’s a Mexican hairless dog called a Xoloitzquintle seems pretty convincing. Here’s a website with pictures of the breed.

Ah, but don’t let’s ruin the mystery and romance of the story! It’s the potential for unnamed species to suddenly turn up in our backyard that makes our lives more bearable, isn’t it? And the possibility that, as Sploid seems to imply, an electronics corporation may be dabbling in God’s work at some kind of suburban Island of Dr. Moreau.