Just what kind of creature would cause such mayhem, instill such fear in a small town and cause a near riot upon their impending take-ver of the area?
Yeah. You already guessed it. A coati.
When I originally read the account of the Peel Street Monster I'd found in the Fortean Times magazine (issue #134, June-2000 - and yes, I'm aware I read strange things), I chuckled a little at first. What other 'monster' COULD have been the instigator of such an uproar BUT a coati? Known for their shenanigans while in captivity, it made me smile to know that my favorite little 'monster' of an animal had once terrrorized an entire town.
What saddened me though, was how the little guy was put down. After apparently attacking a child, a 17-year-old boy decided to chase the coati into an alley where it became cornered and a group of boys stoned the animal to death. Just another great example of human beings and their ridiculous fear of what they don't know much about.
Experts were called in to identify the animal. Because of a lack of information at that time, it took a while before someone correctly identified the animal which some described as an anteater. During the speculation as to what the creature was, the body of a second coati (this one a female) was found.
Wolverhampton's populace had begun to wonder if an entire colony of the formidable, child-eating creatures had taken up residence somewhere nearby.
Eventually everyone came to the conclusion that the pair of coati were part of a traveling menagerie which were frequent during that period. Small circuses, sideshows and random exhibits often made stops in small towns, collected some cash for their exhibit and then went on their way. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that these two coati decided it was time for a jailbreak, that they'd had enough of the circus and that the little town of Wolverhampton was as good a place as any to settle down.
One of the things that interested me about the Fortean Times article (it's not available in their archives) is the mention of a photograph of the first coati after it had been destroyed, surrounded by a crowd of onlookers. I've put a request in to the Wolverhampton Express and Star newspapers to track down this photo. I'll keep you posted when I receive a response from that request.
For now, I've included a picture of the cover of the issue of the Fortean Times that included the article, a large picture of the page containing the article which you should be able to read (if you can't read it and would like a copy of the photo, please let me know and if, by any chance, someone at Fortean Times decides I'm violating some kind of copyright issue PLEASE email me so we may resolve the issue) as well as a couple of other clippings I found that made reference to the Peel Street Monster attacks.
When I'd first heard of this incident, like I'd mentioned at the beginning of this post, it made me smirk a little. Not because of how tragically it ended, but because only my favorite little critter in the animal kingdom could go down in history by escaping from a circus, attacking children and disrupting an entire town!
Be safe, have an AMAZING Halloween and pass on the story of the little coatimundi who became a cryptozoological legend known as the The Peel Street Monster!
