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Half a century ago, Belgian Zoologist Bernard Heuvelmans first codified cryptozoology in his book On the Track of Unknown Animals.

The Centre for Fortean Zoology (CFZ) are still on the track, and have been since 1992. But as if chasing unknown animals wasn't enough, we are involved in education, conservation, and good old-fashioned natural history! We already have three journals, the largest cryptozoological publishing house in the world, CFZtv, and the largest cryptozoological conference in the English-speaking world, but in January 2009 someone suggested that we started a daily online magazine! The CFZ bloggo is a collaborative effort by a coalition of members, friends, and supporters of the CFZ, and covers all the subjects with which we deal, with a smattering of music, high strangeness and surreal humour to make up the mix.

It is edited by CFZ Director Jon Downes, and subbed by the lovely Lizzy Bitakara'mire (formerly Clancy), scourge of improper syntax. The daily newsblog is edited by Corinna Downes, head administratrix of the CFZ, and the indexing is done by Lee Canty and Kathy Imbriani. There is regular news from the CFZ Mystery Cat study group, and regular fortean bird news from 'The Watcher of the Skies'. Regular bloggers include Dr Karl Shuker, Dale Drinnon, Richard Muirhead and Richard Freeman.The CFZ bloggo is updated daily, and there's nothing quite like it anywhere else. Come and join us...

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Tuesday, March 06, 2012

DALE DRINNON: Solutrean hypothesis and Pukwudgies

New at the Frontiers of Anthropology:
More Support for the Solutrean Hypothesis
http://frontiers-of-anthropology.blogspot.com/2012/03/first-americans-were-they-iberian-not.html

New at the Frontiers of Zoology:
More on Pukwudgies:
http://frontiersofzoology.blogspot.com/2012/03/more-on-pukwudgies.html
http://frontiersofzoology.blogspot.com/2012/03/toronto-tunnel-monster-or-pukwudgie.html

DAN HOLDSWORTH: On the subject of weird hominids

Jon,

whilst out walking yesterday, I photographed the following footprints with my own wellington boot (size 13) alongside for scale.

These are certainly human, caused by a runner a good deal shorter than I am judging by stride length, who was wearing a rather unusual new variety of running shoe called a Vibram Five-fingers Shoe.

The result is a set of prints which look very much like those a barefoot person would make, though in conditions that no barefoot runner would ever tolerate (2 degrees celcius, muddy and unpleasant).

Something like this could conceivably be offered as "evidence" for a Bigfoot-like hominid though, hence I am sending over these to show what is NOT a bigfoot print.

Dan H.





















BIG CAT NEWS: Gloucestershire, Leighton Buzzard.......Australia, and Oklahoma

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

Big Cats in Gloucestershire do exist says expert Frank
This is Gloucestershire

I WANT to respond to letters published in The Citizen about Big Cats and whether or not they exist. The public need to be made aware of the situation, as with over 2000 reports and sightings of British Big Cats throughout the UK every year, ...

Once again th first stories come from Gloucestershire, where Frank Tunbridge is being kept exceedingly busy. I have never met him, and have no axe to grind one way or the other, but he certainly seems to know what he is talking about. The second of these newspaper stories actually has a new sighting; one that Frank says sounds very much like a puma. It is hard not to agree with him.

Gloucestershire big cat is back - howling and with green eyes
This is Gloucestershire
Big cat tracker Frank Tunbridge believes the noise it made was that of a puma calling for its mate. "It was heard out on the green near our house and others at Christmas," said Mr Powell, 73, who saw the creature's eyes while walking TJ around three ...

Now we go up the wooden hills to Bedfordshire where the recent sightings have prompted an avalanche of reports from the last few months...

Big cat roams countryside
Leighton Buzzard Today
WE'RE being flooded with calls from readers who claim to have seen a big cat on the loose in the Bedfordshire countryside but we're still waiting for photographic evidence! The Sheppard family from Totternhoe are going on a photographic safari in a bid ...



And now a puma caught on a trailcam. Sadly its in Oklahoma, but it is an interesting story:

Is there a lion in your backyard
Sand Springs Leader
SUBMITTED
In this photo submitted by Kyle Ingram of Sand Springs in July 2011 is a picture of a "big cat" taken by Ingram's game camera set up off of State Hwy 97, north of Sand Springs. Posted: Monday, March 5, 2012 9:40 am Updated: 9:44 am...

And finally, lest we forget that this is a global phenomenon, there are currently some exciting big cat reports in Australia:

HAVE YOUR SAY: Big cats 'on prowl' in Warburton
Knox Leader
Picture: LAWRENCE PINDER
THE elusive big cat or puma seen skulking around at dark enjoyed the status of an urban legend - until a few weeks ago. Millgrove resident Kym Burton contacted Leader after seeing a big cat that resembled a panther strutting ...

CARL PORTMAN: I should have been there

A house is surrounded by spiderwebs next to flood waters in Wagga Wagga March 6, 2012. Floods across eastern Australia forced more than 13,000 people to evacuate their homes on Tuesday after record-high summer rains drenched three states over the past week, swelling rivers and forcing dams to overflow.
Check out the rest of the slideshow

HAUNTED SKIES: Times (The) 5.10.65


OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today

On this day in 2009 the Kepler Space observatory, designed to search for Earth-like planets (that could, in theory, support life) was launched.

And now the news:

Up to 900 tropical bird species could 'go extinct'...
Forest corridors must be created to protect Probos...
Patterns of Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Found in...
Deer culling
IUCN proposes new tactics to prevent overfishing.
Distressed dolphin put to sleep
Farmer guilty of damaging one of Derbyshire’s fine...
Unexpected Crustacean Diversity Discovered in Nort...
Genetics of Endangered African Monkey Suggest Trou...
Gopher tortoises delay some SunRail work (via Herp...
Wolverine caught on photo trap in Montana
Dogs help track down Everglade’s giant pythons
PUMA NEWS


Life on other planets?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v--IqqusnNQ&ob=av2n

HELP WANTED

The other day I posted an appeal for people to help with transcribing interviews that we recorded during our sojourn in Texas two years ago. A jolly nice chap called Damian Stansbury replied, and is currently wading his way through the first interview which is about an hor long. There are several more, so if there are any people out there who feel like trabscribing, and helping with our blue dog project, please can you email me on jon@eclipse.co.uk

KARL SHUKER: Modern day nagas, or photoshopped frauds?

Karl Shuker gets interested in photoshop.

"According to Hindu and Buddhist mythology, nagas are ancient serpent deities that can take human or semi-human form, and in Buddhist mythology a naga can have several heads. They are most often represented as huge cobras with expanded hoods."

Read on...

DALE DRINNON: Kentucky bigfoot, MoMo, Solutran crossing of the Atlantic


New on the Frontiers of Zoology, important information on the Kentucky Bigfoot:
http://frontiersofzoology.blogspot.com/2012/03/local-bigfoots.html
And on MoMo, the Missouri Monster:
http://frontiersofzoology.blogspot.com/2012/03/momo-frogfoot.html

New on the Frontiers of Anthropology, New Evidence for the Solutrean Crossing of the Atlantic into America:
http://frontiers-of-anthropology.blogspot.com/2012/03/new-evidence-suggests-stone-age-hunters.html

REDFERN'S CRITTER COLLECTION

One of the reasons I enjoy living where I do, is the massive presence of a wide and varied body of strange and over-sized critters of a type that I just never found back in England. From blue-eyed toads to fat cats, and from mean-looking spiders to winged whatsits, it's all good! Well, aside for my wife, Dana, who recoils in horror every time I bring to her attention that latest beast on which I have stumbled!

Read on...