'Family of Sasquatches' photographed along snowy Arizona highway ignites speculation

A Facebook post by the Arizona Department of Transportation has touched off an intense frenzy of social media speculation.

In a post on New Year's Day, the ADOT shared a snapshot from a highway camera on State Route 260 that appears to show a group of mysterious beasts in the snow.

The "creatures" are clumped together on the top right of the photograph, and like all photos of Sasquatches, are blurry beyond the point of recognition.

Since it was shared last week, the post has exploded: More than 3,500 people have shared it on their Facebook walls and over 2,000 people "liked'" the post itself.

Comments on the photo range from sincere belief to sarcasm, but regardless of its reception, the ADOT wants to clarify that the post was nothing more than a good-natured prank.

Post by Arizona Department of Transportation.

"We always try to have a little fun with our Facebook and Twitter feeds," department spokesman Tim Tait told ABC News. "That way, we don't just post news about crashes and road conditions, but a little something to engage our audience in different ways. This posting was one of those efforts – something that caught our attention, and we thought it might make some people chuckle."

And, as the Phoenix New Times reports, a snapshot of the same stretch of road five days later still shows the "'creatures" –- mainly because they're actually a clump of shrubs and trees.

An actual "mysterious beast" met a gruesome end in Arizona late last year. In a case of mistaken identity, a gray wolf, which scientists believed to be the first in the region in 70 years, was gunned down by a coyote hunter.

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