WELCOME TO THE CFZ BLOG NETWORK: COME AND JOIN THE FUN

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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Saturday, October 27, 2012

SHERI'S BLOG: Day 1 – Friday

We have a visitor this week. Sheri Myler, a student from the North of England is doing a week's placement with us. She is already very keen on cryptozoology and eager to learn. I confidently predict that she will be an asset to the cryptozoological community in years to come. However, we decided to put her to work, and each day she will be blogging about what she has been doing...


My first official task was to learn the husbandry routine of all the animals kept at the Centre for Fortean Zoology (CFZ). This was followed by a morning briefing discussing the days tasks, upcoming events and correspondence with authors/contacts. There was also further talk of my duties and a pop-quiz on the cryptozoological significance of the animals here at the CFZ. I didn't do very well.

After this, I helped prepare trail cameras, and set them up in the woods at Ashcroft Farm, to begin documentation of the animals that an Alien Big Cat (ABC) can feed on in the area. Care was taken to place them in memorable places to aid in retrieving them next Thursday.

The local pub is under new ownership and is eager to have a new look to the place. As a result, they wanted us to collect a fish tank and bring the fish back to the CFZ. One fish proved reluctant to remove from the tank and, by the time we had, it was the last fish to carry round to the centre. This was left to me and I felt more responsible for this solitary fish than throughout the rest of the task. It was in a tiny pot of water as I carried it through the cold evening. I was worried that the stress and cold would be too much for the poor thing. I’m happy to say that the fish survived and is happy in its new home.

Much of the remainder of this day was spent helping Jon in proof-reading journal articles and typing up his dictations, to be added to the journal. There was also a break for a delicious meal served by his lovely wife, Corinna  The day was topped off by a car-ride around Huddisford woods, in hopes of sighting an ABC. Sadly, however, there was no action. 

DALE DRINNON: Bigfoot, giant skulls, Cedar & Willow, Benny's Blog

New at Frontiers of Zoology:
 
And on Benny's Blog, the Ominous Octopus Omnibus:
http://bennypdrinnon.blogspot.com/2012/10/a-keen-brunette-named-katy-keene.html

New on Frontiers of Zoology:
One of three continuing discussions on facebook arising from recent FOZ posts, but the first one from which there have been substantial results:
And Here is today's Cedar and Willow link:

FORTEAN BIRD NEWS FROM THE WATCHER OF THE SKIES (CFZ)

In an article for the first edition of Cryptozoology Bernard Heuvelmans wrote that cryptozoology is the study of 'unexpected animals' and following on from that perfectly reasonable assertion, it seems to us that - whereas the study of out of place birds may not have the glamour of the hunt for bigfoot, or lake monsters - it is still a perfectly valid area for the Fortean Zoologist to be interested in. So, after about six months of regular postings on the main bloggo, Corinna has taken the plunge and started a 'Watcher of the Skies' blog of her own as part of the CFZ Bloggo Network.





TODAY'S BIG CAT ROUND UP

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 by us in some way, so we should have a go at publishing a regular round-up of the stories as they come in. In September 2012, Emma Osborne decided that the Mystery Cat Study Group really deserved a blog of its own within the CFZ Blog Network.




  • NEWSLINK: Tiger attack
  • USA SIGHTINGS: Michigan
  • USA SIGHTINGS: Idaho
  • NEWSLINK: Cheetah conservation
  • UK SIGHTING: Gloucestershire
  • UK SIGHTING: Tunbridge Wells puma
  • SIGHTINGS USA: Bobcat in Arkansas
  • HUNTING TV SHOW TRAILCAM PICKS UP....SOMETHING



    SHERI COMMENTS: The first thing that occurs to me about this video, is that the man presenting it makes no effort to hide his identity, in that there is no distortion of his face or voice and his jumper is clearly marked with a traceable logo, so it is possible to find this man and question him further on the video. Also, he states that the reason he was in the woods was to look for bears, ie not bigfoot. This suggests a lack of bias in the search or any data gathered. He also does not state what he thinks the creature is (be it bear, man, bigfoot or anything else), so there is no obvious effort to sway the perception of the viewer. This, to me, suggests reliability in the source of this footage.

    However, when the image of the figure is shown, there is no indication of scale and, therefore, the size of the creature. There is also only a brief glimpse of it. We get no time to determine how it moves to attempt to relate it to any other type of known animal. It could easily be a man in a ghillie suit, rather than a bigfoot, or some other unknown creature. The slow motion appears to show a man-shaped creature, but there are limited frames, and bears have been known to look man-like for the length of time shown in this film. It could also just be a man. It is primarily unidentifiable and, whilst it could be a bigfoot, it cannot be said to be anything definite and, therefore, cannot be seen as strong evidence towards the existence of a bigfoot. 

    I'M YER GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN

    And so another weekend is upon us. Sheri, our new intern did very well yesterday and worked on the inaugural issue of the Journal of Cryptozoology. She and Graham also removed the last of our fish from the village pub, so that particular episode is over for good. I still haven't had time to edit any more of the footage from Jefferson Starship and Auburn in Southampton the other night, but I shall try and do one song at least today. As I type we are listening to the new album by Galahad - it is a complete eye-opener. I liked the last one a lot, but this one mixes their literate prog metal with dancy stuff which borders on KLF territory. As anyone who knows me will attest, I am a massive Bill Drummond fan, so this has to be a good thing. I also have to apologise to Erik Norlander; I was supposed to telephone him on Thursday, but completely forgot. Forgive me my friend...

    We start off with our daily visit to the universe of Thom the World Poet..

    I think Peter McAdam is one of the funniest people around, and I cannot recommend his book The Nine Henrys highly enough. This week we shall be running a series of Henrybits that are not found in his book about the nine cloned cartoon characters who inhabit a surreal world nearly as insane as mine..

    This German review of the ABWH live album opens a whole can of conceptual worms. I hadn't realised that the mighty Tony Levin, the tour bassist with the band had been ill during the dates that produced the original live album and DVD, so that the latest Gonzo package is actually the only document of Levin live with the band..

    What can one say? Michael Des Barres is a massive talent who makes friends wherever he goes. This German review is testament to that...

    A blast from the past (or rather the BBC archives via YouTube). I remember seeing this show by Renaissance on BBC2 the first time around, and it is great to see it again. I also understand that Annie Haslam is singing again, albeit in a back brace. What a trouper. Everyone at Gonzo Daily salutes her...

    The second video blog from the lovely Cathy Richardson of Jefferson Starship

    The Gonzo Daily is a two way process. If you have any news or want to write for us, please contact me at jon@eclipse.co.uk. If you are an artist and want to showcase your work, or even just say hello please write to me at gonzo@cfz.org.uk. Please copy, paste and spread the word about this magazine as widely as possible. We need people to read us in order to grow, and as soon as it is viable we shall be invading more traditional magaziney areas. Join in the fun, spread the word, and maybe if we all chant loud enough we CAN stop it raining. See you tomorrow...
    The Gonzo Daily is - as the name implies - a daily online magazine (mostly) about artists connected to the Gonzo Multimedia group of companies. But it also has other stuff as and when the editor feels like it. The Editor is an old hippy of 53 who - together with his orange cat - puts it all together from a converted potato shed in a tumbledown cottage deep in rural Devon. He is ably assisted by his lovely wife Corinna, his bulldog/boxer Prudence, and a motley collection of social malcontents. Plus.. did we mention the orange cat?

    OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today



    On this day in 1946 Ivan Reitman, the director and producer of Ghostbusters, was born.
    Also if you are in the Plymouth area today, why not pop over to the Shrimp by the Mayflower Steps at 2pm or 3pm and you can go on my guided walking tour of Plymouth's paranormal past, the Strange History of Plymouth Tour for only £6 or £4 for the kiddies There are also extra tours on the 30th and 31st of October, perfect for Halloween and Half Term, more details at facebook.com/BlackCatPlanning )

    And now the news:

  • Live Shark Found Writhing On Golf Course
  • High-Protein Diet Not So Good for Kitty's Belly, S...
  • Blue Iguana Slithers Back from Extinction
  • Forestry's Waste Wood Offers Habitat for Small For...
  • Wisconsin State proposes taking 16 species off pro...
  • Winning Photos Bring World of the Itsy-Bitsy to Li...
  • Why Don't We Drink Milk from Animals Other Than Co...
  • BYU Researchers Help Find Common Snake Grandpa - B...
  • Yawning puppies

  • Who ya gonna call?