BIG CAT NEWS: A story from Akenham

The hunt for British Big Cats attracts far more newspaper column inches than any other cryptozoological subject.

There are so many of them now that we feel that they should be archived in some way by us, so we should have a go at publishing a regular round-up of the stories as they come in.

It takes a long time to do, and is a fairly tedious task, so I am not promising that they will be done each day, but I will do them as regularly as I can. JD

Akenham: Police receive reports of big cat attacked deer
East Anglian Daily Times
A police spokesman said a man called to report that a big cat had attacked a deer. The man had found the deer with marks around its throat. Have you seen a big cat on the loose? Call the newsdesk on 01473 324738.

Short and sweet. That is actually all there is, although one has to agree with one of the comments, which read: "He found the deer with marks around its throat. And that constitutes a report that "a big cat" had attacked it?" It seems to me that there is an interesting socio-psychological syndrome at work here, and in several other recent news reports. If there is something even slightly weird to report, blame it on a `big cat`.

NIGEL WRIGHT: Brewery comes to the aid of the Pendle Witches

A local brewery in Lancashire has decided to come to aid of the legendary Pendle witches, hung 400 years ago, in Lancaster. Now, the brewery is to campaign for a pardon for the woman, to finally clear their name..

Of course, if one was just a tad cynical, one could suppose that this is nowt but a very cleaver marketing ploy!. Well, whatever the real reason, this pardon attempt will certainly not do any harm to the well-established tourist trade in the legend, that surrounds these poor woman’s demise. There again, if they were really witches, and the brewery has just used their plight for marketing purposes, then who knows what revenge they may take on the company involved.…..makes you shudder doesn’t it!

http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/burnleypendlerossendale/9488752.Burnley_based_brewery_Moorhouses_launches_official_campaign_to_pardon_the_Pendle_Witches/?ref=rss

MUIRHEAD`S MYSTERIES: A SOLILOQUOY ABOUT A HONG KONG 1954 TIGER

A few days ago I found the following soliloquy on a New Territories, Hong Kong, tiger of October 1954. Unfortunately I didn`t take a note of the Web site. I think it was a Chinese literary web site from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Translated well into English this time ! The original soliloquy was dated October 29th 1954 from a Taiwan publication the Chinese Student Weekly. It gives a rather interesting insight into a Chinese person`s (presumably)view of the tiger in Hong Kong about 60 years ago.

A SOLILOQUY
Enters the N.T. Tiger, roaming meditatively

Tiger, Tiger,hides and seeks
Amidst N.T. forests and peaks,
What presumptuous mortal or fool
Dare shake thy fearful majesty?

To stay,or to leave:that is the question:
Whether it`s worthwhile to continue abstaining
Ever since the time I`ve come here
And to suffer against my better will
The noises and filthy air of an over-crowded city,
Or better to cease humoring these ignorant,presumptous mortals,
And by frightening them with my omnipotence
Thus leave them in perpetual frustration?
To study mankind, to seek for a paradise-these were my motives
That drove me to rove around this world of wonder.
And realising that I`m poles apart from Man
Whether in physique,temperament,habit or wisdom.
I have struggled hard to entame myself
So as to cope with Man,and to study his culture.
Alas! What disappointment and shock to discover
That Man is nothing but a wicked,selfish, ambitious animal.
A barrel of vanity.
Look how these H.K. people `re hunting me
While I remain as tame as a suckling dove.
I tried to offer them peace and friendship, what they`ve returned
Was enmity,disturbance and distrust.
Ha! They`re breeders of rumours, myopes!
They said I was a wildcat, a leopard, a racoon ………………..(1)
Not seeing the mark on my forehead that signifies
The dignity and fierceness of my majesty.

Know you,Man: I am King of the forest;
The Chief of my tribe,and
The Head of my family, who could have destroyed you
As an ant in an instant. Your attitude
Sickens my heart, frustrates my plan and upsets me
With vacillation between staying here or leaving,
Continuing with my project,or giving up.
Whate`er will be my decision,one thing I`d like to warn you:
Challenge not with my greater power,
- A power that`s dangerous to conquer-
When it appears friendly and tame,
For life is precious,treat it not as a game. (2)


1. This may refer to escaped racoon dogs.
2. Chinese Student Weekly Oct 29th 1954 693 ed.

HAUNTED SKIES: Daily Mail 30.7.63.

http://hauntedskies.blogspot.com/2012/02/daily-mail-30763.html

OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today

http://cryptozoologynews.blogspot.com/

On this day in 1905 the Reverend Tarquin P. Chesterton suggested to the British parliament that once a term school teachers should have one day put aside for taking part in mass surveys of the species and population size of the UK’s insects. The proposal was unanimously voted in as law and since then all of Britain’s schoolteachers have participated in ‘insect days’ once a term where they are expected to dress up in gowns and motar boards and run around the school playing fields with butterfly nets.

And now the news:

How the Quarter Horse Won the Rodeo
Author attacks 'desecration' as plan to build on W...
Mutant Bird Flu Studies Should Be Revealed in Full...
Indian lesser flamingos compared to their African ...
New fungal disease discovered in threatened junipe...
Chimp Haven Gets an Upgrade
Why Are So Many Dolphins Beaching Themselves?
Goat kids can develop 'accents'
Dormouse discovery at Alton Water is good news
Bugs at North Mianus school weren't bedbugs
Panther or thylacine?
Emergency conservation work pays off: Zino’s Petre...

Mosquito hunting:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcACaW9vwg4

DALE DRINNON: Austrian reptoids/Unexpected geology in the mid-Atlantic

New on the Frontiers of Zoology:

http://frontiersofzoology.blogspot.com/2012/02/austrian-cave-encounter-with-reptoids.html

And New on the Frontiers of Anthropology:

http://frontiers-of-anthropology.blogspot.com/2012/02/mid-atlantic-unexpected-geology.html

Best Wishes, Dale D.

THE 2012 CFZ YEARBOOK IS FINISHED - PREORDER NOW

The Centre For Fortean Zoology Yearbook is a collection of papers and essays too long and detailed for publication in the CFZ Journal Animals & Men. With contributions from both well-known researchers, and relative newcomers to the field, the Yearbook provides a forum where new theories can be expounded, and work on little-known cryptids discussed.

There have been all sorts of delays, trials and tribulations, and stuff that I really don't wish to bore you with but at last the 2012 Yearbook is ready and I uploaded it to Lightning Source late last night. With a bit of luck and a fair wind it will be on sale to the general public within the next week or so at £12.50 plus postage. However, here is a special offer for all of you loyal readers of the CFZ Bloggo Network.

Pre-order now and get it at the discount price of £10.99 postage free. I am afraid that this offer is only good for readers in the UK or USA. However, if you are somewhere else and still want to buy the book in advance email me on jon@eclipse.co.uk or Corinna on corinna@cfz.org.uk and we will do you the best deal that we can...

CONTENTS

3 Introduction
5 Contents
7 An Analysis of the Borley Rectory Bug by Max Blake
17 Beguiled by the Bosjesman by George Clappison
25 The Great Whistling Emptiness of the Absence of Wonder by Lee Walker
37 Mystery Creatures of Inuit and Other North American Mythology by Raheel Mughal
47 ThoughT Transmission in Relic Hominids by David Francazio
57 The Enigma of the Pictish Beast by Glen Vaudrey
69 The World of the Jinn by Michael Hallowell
83 The Cryptozoological World of Doctor Dolittle by Dr Karl Shuker
101 Introduced Animals by Marcus Matthews
105 Only Ghouls of Horses by Neil Arnold
115 Wildmen of Southeast Asia by Dale Drinnon
169 Sea Dragons: Survivors of the Deep by Raheel Mughal
177 The Trimble County Beast by George Clappison

Annual Reports

185 CFZ Canada by Robin Pyatt Bellamy
187 CFZ New Zealand by Tony Lucas
191 CFZ USA by Nick Redfern
207 CFZ Australia by Rebecca Lang and Mike Williams
217 The Bigfoot Forums
219 2011 – A Year in the Life of the Centre for Fortean Zoology by Jon Downes
231 About the CFZ
239 About the CFZ Publishing Group