RETURN OF THE NIGHT PARROT

There is some very exciting news over on the CFZ Australia blog. One of my personal favourite cryptids has resurfaced:

"NATIMUK birdwatcher Clive Curson has spotted Australia's rarest bird - a night parrot. The night parrot, Pezoporus occidentalis, is such a rare and secretive bird that bird experts thought it might be extinct. News of the sighting has sparked a rush to the remote outback site by keen birdwatchers throughout Australia. Mr Curson's sighting of a live specimen is the third sighting of the bird in almost a century. The other two sightings were of dead night parrots....

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GLEN VAUDREY: Introducing the Coje Ya Menia

As a result of once again traveling the globe by dart I landed in Angola. To be honest I’m not all that familiar with any of the cryptids that are to be found lurking there. The Coje Ya Menia is certainly one of them, this ‘water lion’ is said to live in the upper Cuango and Cuanza rivers as well as their smaller tributaries.

But what is known about the Coje Ya Menia? As seems usual not as much as you would like and just enough to gain your interest. This mystery animal has been stated as being both nocturnal and amphibious. As for size it has been described as being smaller than a hippopotamus, how much smaller who knows, your guess is as good as mine on that one. Possessing either tusks or large canine teeth this mystery creature is probably one that you wouldn’t want to meet on a dark night, which is of course when you would be more likely to see one. You don’t believe me on that? Well how about the following.

It was back in 1930 that a Portuguese truck driver (Angola was a Portuguese colony until 1975) heard that a Coje Ya Menia had been responsible for killing a hippopotamus on the banks of the Cuango the night before. No doubt waiting until it was light (and very wise that would be considering the nature of the beast) the driver went to look for the carcass. So it was that accompanied by a handful of trackers he went searching. After several hours of following the trails of a hippopotamus and that of a smaller animal they came across the remains of the hippo, and it wasn’t a find for anyone suffering a hangover for they found that the great beast had been ripped to shreds.
So what could the Coje Ya Menia actually be? Well the suspects range from an unknown lizard to an aquatic saber-toothed cat. Whether it is either of those or something completely different remains to be discovered.

LINDSAY SELBY: The Augusta Sea Serpent

On August 11th, 1888, a monster attacked the schooner Augusta off the south east coast of Newfoundland. Six dories were sent out from the schooner and one of them was chased back to the Augusta by a huge, monstrous creature that emerged from the water and chased the dory to the schooner, only to the submerge again. The monster undulated through the water at great speeds, not unlike an eel or snake, and was close to 100 feet long. Its head, which raised above the water for 15 to 20 feet, was huge and lizard-like with immense eyes. Its body was brown with stripes, about 20 feet thick with a huge fin. The creature reappeared later as the dories went out to get their trawls and chased another of the six dories. It attempted to wrap itself into coils around the boat but lost its speed, only to later catch up and smash at the dory with its deadly tail. The schooner captain shot at the beast as it sank into the sea. The Augusta returned to St. John's where the story appeared in local papers. Some believe that the creature was a giant squid, similar to ones seen in various places around the world but the experienced fishermen of Newfoundland know it was a sea serpent, and is still out there, hidden deep in the waters, waiting...

-----told to St. John's newspapers by Thomas Grant, owner of the Augusta---

I am not at all well at the moment but posted a sea serpent report to keep you amused. Maybe some one would like to hazard a guess at what it might have been, if it is a misidentified creature, and post a comment.

AN ALTRUISTIC TORTOISE?

This is one of the most controversial videos to have surfaced in a long time. Is it for real? Or are the tortoises somehow trained to perform this as a party piece? What do you folk think?