When bizarre animal stories are a way of life

WASHINGTON - We've been telling you about a report of a monkey-like animal on the loose in Southern Maryland, and WTOP has spoken with a man who could fill a zoo with all the strange animals he's seen around here.

For more than 30 years, Robert Beyer's been responding to animal nuisance calls for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

"I went to investigate a sighting of a tiger in Montgomery County, and I went to the guy's backyard and by gosh there was a tiger," he recalls from a case early in his career.

Beyer says the big cat found in Silver Spring apparently escaped from a private home.

"The one thing I learned in all my years of working, when a person calls and says I saw this and I saw that, never say never," Beyer says.

Also in Montgomery County several years ago, Beyer says a buffalo got loose from a farm. Loads of people contact the agency with crazy critter stories.

"People report injured eagles, and you go out there and you find out it's a seagull."

He adds that large feral cats are often mistaken for bobcats or cougars.

Other amazing animal sightings are right on the money.

"Last year we had a black bear on the Eastern Shore. We finally did catch it and it had an ear tag in it and we found out if was from New Jersey. That's why we want people to report when they see something."

If you want to report a bizarre backyard visitor, more information is available at the following websites:

• Maryland Department of Natural Resources
• Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries
• D.C. Animal Control.

(Copyright 2009 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)