Deer escapes church nativity scene
Published: Dec. 8, 2010 at 2:42 PM
LAKELAND, Fla., Dec. 8 (UPI) -- Police in Florida said a deer named Rudolph escaped from a church nativity scene and was seen running around the area.
Lakeland police said they received a call from a resident at 5:50 a.m. about a deer running around his property and they quickly determined it was Rudolph, nicknamed Rudy, a muntjac deer portraying a reindeer in the Highland Park Church of the Nazarene nativity scene, the Orlando Sentinel reported Wednesday.
WATCH the video from Central Florida News 13
Sgt. Terri Smith said church personnel chased the deer around the property and it was eventually captured while hiding under the church's elf house in its Bethlehem Village area. Ken Suarez, the deer's owner, said he brought the animal home after the incident.
ODD PHOTOS: Deer found in Tree
The church said many other live animals remain in the display, which will be opened to the public from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Friday through Sunday.
Thursday, December 09, 2010
MIKE HALLOWELL: The Ghost Cat of the Grotto
A couple of weeks ago I received an e-mail from a journalist on a local paper I column for, attached to which was an e-mail the paper had received from an old colleague of mine. I'd not seen Billy for years, not since we both worked together in the Crime Prevention Department of Northumbria Police (E Division).Billy had no direct way of contacting me and hence, penned his epistle for my attention to the journalist concerned. Billy wanted to know if I was attending a “ghost hunt” at the legendary Marsden Grotto Inn, a strange pub in a cave that nestles at the base of a large cliff at Tyneside's Marsden Bay. Both Marsden Bay and the Grotto Inn are known to myself, Jon Downes and Richie Freeman. Jon and Richie visited the pub years ago when we were filming a documentary entitled Anatomy of a Haunting. The documentary was the work of filmmaker Gary Wilkinson, and concerned the wide range of bizarre phenomena that take place in the vicinity. I wrote the script and did some of the presenting, whilst Jon and Richie did a very spooky intro.
Later, I went on to write an entire book about the pub (The House That Jack Built: Amberley Publishing, 2008), and I've taken part in no less than five documentaries about the place and penned over twenty articles and columns on the same subject. Hence, I was intrigued about the forthcoming ghost hunt.
I telephoned Billy and we spent at least half an hour catching up on old times. I confessed to him that I knew nothing about the forthcoming event, and normally didn't have much enthusiasm for this sort of thing, but if it was taking place at the Grotto then I might be persuaded. I then rang the chap who had organised it and he said he'd be delighted if I'd go along and perhaps help inform those in attendance about the history of the place and some of the odd characters who had been associated with it over the centuries.
Then the event took place, and I watched with fascination as thirty enthusiasts not only hunted for the Grotto ghosts but also attempted to make contact with them via ouija boards and sundry other means.
But it was during a break in the proceedings when my curiosity was truly heightened. A cameraman was filming me as I moved from location to location and in between shots we found ourselves standing by the main entrance, which leads out onto the patio outside. The cameraman suddenly turned and looked down towards the ground, obviously distracted by something.
“That's weird,” he said, “I've just felt a cat brush against my legs, but there's nothing there...”
I must confess I was delighted, for I wondered if the legendary Grotto Ghost Cat (GGC) was back.
The Grotto Ghost Cat first appeared, to my knowledge, in the mid 60s when patrons playing the “one-armed bandits” reported having the same sensation as the cameraman: the unmistakeable feeling that a cat had just brushed against their legs. What intrigued me more was the fact that the gambling machines used to stand only six feet away from where we were standing now.
Occasionally drinkers in the Grotto would not only feel the cat's presence but actually see it. It was invariably described as black and white, although a couple of witnesses have also seen a completely black cat, so maybe there are two Grotto Ghost Cats.
The first witness I ever interviewed who had actually seen the GGC was the former landlord of the Grotto, Nick Garvey. Not long after taking over the pub, Nick spotted a cat in the kitchen. He said it looked “large as life” (a weird expression, for to my knowledge you don't lose height when you're dead) and tried to catch it, as he didn't want a run-in with the local council's health and safety people. He bent down and tried to pick it up, but was astonished to find that his hands just passed straight through it. The phantom cat then simply walked through a nearby refrigerator and disappeared.
I've actually been in the Grotto when other patrons have complained to the manager about “that cat in the bar” but when the landlord investigates it has inevitably disappeared into the ether.
There's no doubt that a spectral cat of some kind haunts (if that's the word) this old public house. However, is it a ghost or some kind of zooform cryptid? Its hard to say, to be honest. In some respects it acts like a conventional, run-of-the-mill ghost (if there is such a thing) but one or two incidents make me wonder. In November 2000 a witness who saw the GGC claimed it had “bright, glowing red eyes”, and others have heard it “meaowing”. Another witness I interviewed said that as the GGC leaped from a table onto the floor it seemed to change shape. Maybe it is a cryptid off sorts, then.
I've been told that someone has a photograph of the GGC, and I'm going to try and track it down. If I'm successful, I'll post it here, so watch this space....
“That's weird,” he said, “I've just felt a cat brush against my legs, but there's nothing there...”
I must confess I was delighted, for I wondered if the legendary Grotto Ghost Cat (GGC) was back.
The Grotto Ghost Cat first appeared, to my knowledge, in the mid 60s when patrons playing the “one-armed bandits” reported having the same sensation as the cameraman: the unmistakeable feeling that a cat had just brushed against their legs. What intrigued me more was the fact that the gambling machines used to stand only six feet away from where we were standing now.
Occasionally drinkers in the Grotto would not only feel the cat's presence but actually see it. It was invariably described as black and white, although a couple of witnesses have also seen a completely black cat, so maybe there are two Grotto Ghost Cats.
The first witness I ever interviewed who had actually seen the GGC was the former landlord of the Grotto, Nick Garvey. Not long after taking over the pub, Nick spotted a cat in the kitchen. He said it looked “large as life” (a weird expression, for to my knowledge you don't lose height when you're dead) and tried to catch it, as he didn't want a run-in with the local council's health and safety people. He bent down and tried to pick it up, but was astonished to find that his hands just passed straight through it. The phantom cat then simply walked through a nearby refrigerator and disappeared.
I've actually been in the Grotto when other patrons have complained to the manager about “that cat in the bar” but when the landlord investigates it has inevitably disappeared into the ether.
There's no doubt that a spectral cat of some kind haunts (if that's the word) this old public house. However, is it a ghost or some kind of zooform cryptid? Its hard to say, to be honest. In some respects it acts like a conventional, run-of-the-mill ghost (if there is such a thing) but one or two incidents make me wonder. In November 2000 a witness who saw the GGC claimed it had “bright, glowing red eyes”, and others have heard it “meaowing”. Another witness I interviewed said that as the GGC leaped from a table onto the floor it seemed to change shape. Maybe it is a cryptid off sorts, then.
I've been told that someone has a photograph of the GGC, and I'm going to try and track it down. If I'm successful, I'll post it here, so watch this space....
MUIRHEAD`S MYSTERIES: SHARK EXHIBITED IN MANCHESTER 1798/INTRODUCING COPAC
The other day I went to the local studies libraries and came up with one or two items of interest, including this story of some kind of shark (?) caught off Devon [which I know will please the Dear Leader-R] and later exhibited at Hanging Ditch, which is presumably the same district between Victoria St and Corporation St, Manchester.
Just Arrived Here
And to be Seen in the Front Room, at the Admiral Duncan, Hanging Ditch
A very large and remarkable Fish, which was caught Near Exmouth,Devonshire Of the Carnivorous Kind, called
The MAN EATER
His length is 8 feet,5 feet round,has 14 rows of teeth, and 5 ribs on each side,like a Man, one fin on each side,and one on the back 18 inches long, 4 fins under the belly and near the tail,of different lengths, one fork of the tail 3 inches longer than the than the other and full of joints, the other fork has none.
This fish is allowed, by all who have seen it, to be the greatest Natural Curiosity ever yet exhibited: it has never been described in Natural History, and may be very properly classed as a “ NON DESCRIPT.”
N.B. It is soon to be made a present to the Duke of Devonshire. There are also several other Natural Curiosities in the Room.
I am interested in such reports as pieces of social history and I love the hyperbole.
Now, concerning COPAC. COPAC is a search tool covering specialist, university libraries, etc, libraries in the U.K. and Ireland, which I came across about a year ago but haven`t used it till now. Go into Google and type in COPAC. A screen will come up giving the details of the site as usual. Then click on the green box, (search without logging in) then type in say `Wild cat in Ireland` in the Keyword space and 34 hits come up, including art and fiction. Altogether a good facility.
1. Bulletin of the Saddleworth Historical Society vol 5 no. 1 Spring 1975 p.10 citing Manchester Mercury 8th May 1798
A Cryptozoologist`s Twelve Days of Christmas
On the first day of Christmas my true love sent to me, A Flying Snake in a Pear tree
On the second day of Christmas my true love sent to me, Two Irish Wild Cats and a Flying Snake in a Pear tree
On the third day of Christmas my true love sent to me, Three living Mammoths, two Irish Wild Cat and a Flying Snake in a Pear Tree
On the Fourth Day of Christmas my true love sent to me, Four moa birds,three living mammoths, two Irish Wild Cats, and a Flying Snake in a Pear Tree
On the Fifth Day of Christmas my true love sent to me, Five Beached sea ser-pents, Four moa birds, three living mammoths, two Irish Wild Cats, and a Flying Snake in a Pear Tree
On the Sixth Day of Christmas my true love sent to me, Six luminous owls a-laying, five beached sea ser-pents, four moa birds, three living mammoths, two Irish Wild Cats, and a Flying Snakes in a Pear Tree.
On the Seventh Day of Christmas my true love sent to me, seven megamouth sharks a swimming, Six luminous owls a-laying, five beached sea ser-pents, four moa birds, three living mammoths, two Irish Wild Cats, and a Flying Snake in a Pear Tree
On the Eight Day of Christmas my true love sent to me, eight aurochs a milking, Seven megamouth sharks a swimming, six luminous owls a-laying, five beached sea ser-pents, four moa birds, three living mammoths, two Irish Wild Cats, and a Flying Snake in a Pear Tree
On the Ninth Day of Christmas my true love sent to me, nine blue spiders dancing Eight aurochs a milking, seven megamouth sharks a swimming, six luminous owls a-laying, five beached sea ser-pents, four moa birds, three living mammoths, Two Irish Wild Cats, and a Flying Snake in a Pear Tree
On the Tenth Day of Christmas my true love sent to me, ten Hong Kong mystery seals a-leaping, nine blue spiders dancing, Eight aurochs a milking, seven megamouth sharks a swimming, six luminous owls a-laying, five beached sea-serpents, four moa birds, three living mammoths, Two Irish Wild Cats, and a Flying Snake in a Pear Tree
On the Eleventh Day of Christmas my true love sent to me, eleven Orang Pendeks piping, Ten Hong Kong mystery seals a-leaping, nine blue spiders dancing, eight aurochs a milking, seven megamouth sharks a swimming, six luminous owls a-laying, five beached sea-serpents, Four moa birds, three living mammoths, two Irish Wild Cats and a Flying Snake in a Pear Tree
On the Twelth Day of Christmas my true love sent to me,Twelve Blue Dogs drumming, Eleven Orang Pendeks piping, ten Hong Kong mystery seals a-leaping, nine blue spiders dancing, eight aurochs a milking, seven megamouth sharks a swimming, Six luminous owls a-laying, five beached sea ser-pents, four moa birds, three living mammoths, two Irish Wild Cats and a Flying Snake in a Pear Tree.
© Richard Muirhead
Just Arrived Here
And to be Seen in the Front Room, at the Admiral Duncan, Hanging Ditch
A very large and remarkable Fish, which was caught Near Exmouth,Devonshire Of the Carnivorous Kind, called
The MAN EATER
His length is 8 feet,5 feet round,has 14 rows of teeth, and 5 ribs on each side,like a Man, one fin on each side,and one on the back 18 inches long, 4 fins under the belly and near the tail,of different lengths, one fork of the tail 3 inches longer than the than the other and full of joints, the other fork has none.
This fish is allowed, by all who have seen it, to be the greatest Natural Curiosity ever yet exhibited: it has never been described in Natural History, and may be very properly classed as a “ NON DESCRIPT.”
N.B. It is soon to be made a present to the Duke of Devonshire. There are also several other Natural Curiosities in the Room.
I am interested in such reports as pieces of social history and I love the hyperbole.
Now, concerning COPAC. COPAC is a search tool covering specialist, university libraries, etc, libraries in the U.K. and Ireland, which I came across about a year ago but haven`t used it till now. Go into Google and type in COPAC. A screen will come up giving the details of the site as usual. Then click on the green box, (search without logging in) then type in say `Wild cat in Ireland` in the Keyword space and 34 hits come up, including art and fiction. Altogether a good facility.
1. Bulletin of the Saddleworth Historical Society vol 5 no. 1 Spring 1975 p.10 citing Manchester Mercury 8th May 1798
A Cryptozoologist`s Twelve Days of Christmas
On the first day of Christmas my true love sent to me, A Flying Snake in a Pear tree
On the second day of Christmas my true love sent to me, Two Irish Wild Cats and a Flying Snake in a Pear tree
On the third day of Christmas my true love sent to me, Three living Mammoths, two Irish Wild Cat and a Flying Snake in a Pear Tree
On the Fourth Day of Christmas my true love sent to me, Four moa birds,three living mammoths, two Irish Wild Cats, and a Flying Snake in a Pear Tree
On the Fifth Day of Christmas my true love sent to me, Five Beached sea ser-pents, Four moa birds, three living mammoths, two Irish Wild Cats, and a Flying Snake in a Pear Tree
On the Sixth Day of Christmas my true love sent to me, Six luminous owls a-laying, five beached sea ser-pents, four moa birds, three living mammoths, two Irish Wild Cats, and a Flying Snakes in a Pear Tree.
On the Seventh Day of Christmas my true love sent to me, seven megamouth sharks a swimming, Six luminous owls a-laying, five beached sea ser-pents, four moa birds, three living mammoths, two Irish Wild Cats, and a Flying Snake in a Pear Tree
On the Eight Day of Christmas my true love sent to me, eight aurochs a milking, Seven megamouth sharks a swimming, six luminous owls a-laying, five beached sea ser-pents, four moa birds, three living mammoths, two Irish Wild Cats, and a Flying Snake in a Pear Tree
On the Ninth Day of Christmas my true love sent to me, nine blue spiders dancing Eight aurochs a milking, seven megamouth sharks a swimming, six luminous owls a-laying, five beached sea ser-pents, four moa birds, three living mammoths, Two Irish Wild Cats, and a Flying Snake in a Pear Tree
On the Tenth Day of Christmas my true love sent to me, ten Hong Kong mystery seals a-leaping, nine blue spiders dancing, Eight aurochs a milking, seven megamouth sharks a swimming, six luminous owls a-laying, five beached sea-serpents, four moa birds, three living mammoths, Two Irish Wild Cats, and a Flying Snake in a Pear Tree
On the Eleventh Day of Christmas my true love sent to me, eleven Orang Pendeks piping, Ten Hong Kong mystery seals a-leaping, nine blue spiders dancing, eight aurochs a milking, seven megamouth sharks a swimming, six luminous owls a-laying, five beached sea-serpents, Four moa birds, three living mammoths, two Irish Wild Cats and a Flying Snake in a Pear Tree
On the Twelth Day of Christmas my true love sent to me,Twelve Blue Dogs drumming, Eleven Orang Pendeks piping, ten Hong Kong mystery seals a-leaping, nine blue spiders dancing, eight aurochs a milking, seven megamouth sharks a swimming, Six luminous owls a-laying, five beached sea ser-pents, four moa birds, three living mammoths, two Irish Wild Cats and a Flying Snake in a Pear Tree.
© Richard Muirhead
NEW CBD APPEAL
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OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today
http://cryptozoologynews.blogspot.com/
On this day in 1907 1000 medical students clashed with 400 policemen over a statue of a little brown dog in Battersea, London, UK. The Brown Dog Affair is a bit too complex and convoluted for me to do justice in this little blog so if you want to know more follow this link (AFTER you have read the rest of today’s postings and the Fortean zoology news, though) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_Dog_affair. And now, the news:
Argentina: Family Faces the Dreaded Chupacabras
Albino kookaburras found in northern Australia (vi...
Sea Lion Found At School, Miles From Water
Bizarre hairy fly is rediscovered
'Left-handed' coiling snails survive more snake at...
Rat in curry prompts cull at Bangladeshi universit...
Giant fossil bird found on 'hobbit' island of Flor...
Yes, every time hobbits are mentioned in the news this happens:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XC73PHdQX04
On this day in 1907 1000 medical students clashed with 400 policemen over a statue of a little brown dog in Battersea, London, UK. The Brown Dog Affair is a bit too complex and convoluted for me to do justice in this little blog so if you want to know more follow this link (AFTER you have read the rest of today’s postings and the Fortean zoology news, though) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_Dog_affair. And now, the news:
Argentina: Family Faces the Dreaded Chupacabras
Albino kookaburras found in northern Australia (vi...
Sea Lion Found At School, Miles From Water
Bizarre hairy fly is rediscovered
'Left-handed' coiling snails survive more snake at...
Rat in curry prompts cull at Bangladeshi universit...
Giant fossil bird found on 'hobbit' island of Flor...
Yes, every time hobbits are mentioned in the news this happens:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XC73PHdQX04