GLEN VAUDREY WRITES

Jon,

My "otter tracks in the snow photo is causing great excitement. It is the first recorded proof of an otter in this area and the first in the greater Warrington area for many years. Right; now I have found otters, it's time to find those big cats and the thunderbird photo.

all the best

Glen

REINTRODUCTION PROJECT

This is from the latest edition of the newsletter of the Entomological Livestock Group:

Endromis versicolora: The Forestry Commission has the enlightened policy of planting birch around its conifer plantations which make up Thetford Forest, on the Norfolk-Suffolk border. This provides what seems to me a perfect environment for the Kentish Glory moth, and, before I move on (I am the wrong side of 70) I would like to have a serious try to establish the species there. If I can find a few confederates in this venture, and livestock from a few sources to keep the gene stock healthy, chances of success might be, if not assured, at least increased from its present very low (pipe-dream) level. Interested, anyone?

If anyone is interested, email me (jon@eclipse.co.uk) and I will pass it on. I am posting this off my own bat, and it would be particularly unethical to circulate someone's name and email address without his permission.

MORE FROM CFZ AUSTRALIA

CFZ Australia go from strength to strength. In the nine days since I last did a round-up of their bloggo reports they have published:

Dead 'panther' body found in northern Sydney

Monster birds vs. Flores hobbits?

http://www.cfzaustralia.com/2010/12/tassie-tiger-collection-on-show-cradle.html

The Adventures of Tim Tyler and 'Fang' the black p...

Rescuers swoop in to save Aussie wildlife

Albino kookaburras found in Far North Queensland

Bambra big cat sighting

More Australian albinos

The top story in particular is worth reading. It is an account of one of their own investigations, following up a lead about a `panther` carcass....

MORE NESSIE FROM LINDSAY

Lindsay Selby sent a news item about the Loch Ness monster (see yesterday's Yesterday's News Today). Further to this, she writes:

The interview with Tim Dinsdale's son Simon is at the link below about 18 minutes along in the programme. Contains some original footage you may not have seen. It brought a lump to my throat hearing Tim Dinsdale's voice again. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00wnzyl

NB it will be online for another 6 days so make sure you catch it before it disappears

NEW FROM NICK

http://www.mania.com/lair-beasts-monsters-space-center_article_126910.html


The connections between NASA and mothman. I do not know how the boy Redfern does it. You are a machine, sir, a machine...

HAIR SAMPLE UPDATE FROM LARS THOMAS

I have now analysed one of the hair samples I received by mail some days ago, and unfortunately Dale Drinnon was right: the hairs in the bag shown on the right of the picture - the rather dark and coarse ones - are indeed from an orangutan. The hairs in the other bag may be an entirely different kettle of fish or primate or something; I have only had one look, and the hairs did not immediately scream "orangutan." But we shall see when I have had a chance to take a closer look.

As for the o.p. hairs formerly discussed in great detail on this blog; I now have the results from one orang expert who has taken a look. This guy, who has been taking care of orangs in one of the biggest zoos in Denmark for almost 30 years, has taken a look at the pictures of the hairs and my drawings:

"In the years I have taken care of orangutans, I have never studied their hairs, so my opinion would probably not be worth much, but for what its worth, I had our vet help me pull some hairs from one of our animals - she didn't like that one bit - and we both had a look through a microscope the way you suggested. As far as we can see, the hairs do not match."

Lars

OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today

http://cryptozoologynews.blogspot.com/

On this day in 1967 the Silver Bridge in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, USA collapsed, resulting in the deaths of 47 people. John Keel linked the bridge's collapse to sightings of ‘Mothman’ in the Point Pleasant area, in his book The Mothman Prophecies.
And now, the news:

Man castrates neighbour's dog
Has the Hills' big cat been found?
Pekinite allegedly chucks dead squirrel into drive...
Lair of the Beasts: Monsters at the Space Center
Scientists investigate potential new lemur species...
Tesco sorry for baby mice in crisps
Electric eels light up Christmas

And here's a link to a video of that eel; all rather interesting... I wonder how many of them you would need to house to get the power to reliably heat an aquarium:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9wktSQdyaE