Today is the anniversary of a hoax with a particularly interesting cryptid attached to it. This day in 1983, two teenage boys in Silver City, New Mexico found a bizarre creature. The creature, which was already taxidermied, was said to be a hybrid of a deer, a fox, and a Basset hound. It was dubbed the Silver City Chimera, despite the fact both boys said they bought the creature at a flea market a few towns over. They reported their find to the local paper, and the chimera received a lot of attention. The city's primary wax museum offered to purchase the bizarre creature for an exhibit.
The story fell apart, however, when Silver City Wax Museum wanted to verify the animal as a new species before purchasing it. It turned out the creature was combined together posthumously by a skilled yet unknown taxidermist. The wax museum purchased the stuffed abomination regardless, and it's holding up well to this day as the heart of a permanent feature on hoaxes and urban legends.
[ASSOCIATE NOTE: and it's a cute little guy too]
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