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, March 08, 2014

LINK: Our very own Loch Ness Monster on the River Shannon

\"The
The creature had a large fish gripped firmly in its huge jaws.Photo by: Irish Voice Newspaper
So what happened was that I was girding my ancient loins to head over to Scotland and the regions near Lough Ness of the dreaded monster, and dammit if such a similar situation developed in our townland that I was almost afraid to leave the poor Dutch Nation on her own.

And that’s the honest truth, and I’ve forwarded the evidence to our own Debbie and Caty as proof beyond reasonable doubt as you'll see from the photo at the bottom of this page.

Like yourselves over there we have had bad weather. Ours was not on the same scale as yours but we did have a lot of rain.

The land is saturated and the tidal estuary of the Shannon and Fergus spilled over into the loughs which dot the flatlands. And one of those loughs, thankfully not too near us to cause concern, is the normally beautiful and serene Cleenagh Lough behind the home of our good neighbors Jimmy and Joanne White across the road.

And what happened next a few afternoons ago is that artist Joanne was in one of the sheds at the rear of their garden running down to the lough when she glanced out the window and was instantly riveted to the pot.
Read more: http://www.irishcentral.com/news/irishvoice/Our-very-own-Loch-Ness-Monster-on-the-River-Shannon.html#ixzz2vNVCFG8C 

FORTEAN BIRD NEWS FROM THE WATCHER OF THE SKIES


What has Corinna's column of fortean bird news got to do with Cryptozoology?

Well, everything actually!

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. 




THE GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN IS TIRED

The Gonzo Daily - Saturday
Saturday. Where on earth do I start? I have an intern and her younger brother bustling about doing things, Graham is on his way to London, Richard is on his way to Exeter and everything is continuing apace. This weekend's issue of Gonzo Weekly will be with you this afternoon, with lots of Rick Wakeman stuff, a Cyrille Verdeaux auto-interview and a report on The Musical Box plus Acid Mothers Temple, Dr Who, Hawkwind, Eric Burdon, Wreckless Eric, and more news, reviews, views, interviews and sheep having a snooze (OK, no sleepy sheepies) but I got carried away with things that rhymed with OOOOS) than you can shake a stick at. And the best part is IT's ABSOLUTELY FREE!!!
To make sure that you don't miss your copy of this and future issues make an old hippy a happy chappy and subscribe
http://eepurl.com/r-VTD
PS: If you are already a subscriber but think that you haven't been receiving your copies please check your spam filters. For some reason known only to the Gods of the internet, some e-mail programmes automatically count the magazine as 'spam' probably because it comes from a mass mailer. Either that or they are just jealous of our peerless content
THE TRUE STORY OF WHY JOHN LENNON NICKNAMED ERIC BURDON THE EGGMAN
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-true-story-of-why-john-lennon.html
Dave Davies of the Kinks announces first UK concert in 13 Years
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2014/03/dave-davies-of-kinks-announces-first-uk.html
*  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 same team also do a weekly newsletter called - imaginatively - The Gonzo Weekly. Find out about it at this link: www.gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/11/all-gonzo-news-wots-fit-to-print.html
* We should probably mention here, that some of our posts are links to things we have found on the internet that we think are of interest. We are not responsible for spelling or factual errors in other people's websites. Honest guv!

*  Jon Downes, the Editor of all these ventures (and several others) is an old hippy of 54 who - together with his orange cat (who is currently on sick leave in Staffordshire) and two very small kittens (one of whom is also orange) puts it all together from a converted potato shed in a tumbledown cottage deep in rural Devon which he shares with various fish, and sometimes a small Indian frog. He is ably assisted by his lovely wife Corinna, his bulldog/boxer Prudence, his elderly mother-in-law, and a motley collection of social malcontents. Plus.. did we mention the orange cat?

MUIRHEAD`S MYSTERIES: A HUGE SERPENT NEAR GRENOBLE IN 1809

A HUGE SERPENT IN FRANCE IN 1809
 I found the following story using the newspapers.com archive. It was published in The Pittsburgh Gazette on November 1st 1809, reprinted from a French newspaper:
EXTRAORDINARY ANIMAL
The following account is translated from the French Moniteur of the 9th August. It is dated Grenoble, Aug 1 and contains interesting particulars respecting the passage of an unknown animal , supposed to be a reptile, but of tremendous size, through the commune of Bernin. The account was written by the Mayor of Grenoble:-
“ During the night of the 14th July last, the dogs in the village of Bernin were heard to bark in an extraordinary manner. Those of the lower part of the common began, and successively those belonging to the houses on the upper part betrayed the same sign of anxiety, at more than half a mile distance. The next morning the trace of an enormous animal, of which no one could form a just idea, was observed and lead to supposition of its being of the serpent kind. 

It seemed to have issued from the banks of the Iser, and directed its course towards the mountains, crossing a space of two miles in extent, along which its path was plainly visible through the meadows, corn and hemp fields ploughed grounds, and  even the public roads. It slightly waved its movements that from 12 to 16 inches in breadth - At its arrival in the neighbourhood of the first village, it met with a hedge of dead wood, and chose, at a middle height; the pace where the branches were least entangled to effect its passage. It serrated (?) Every thorn as completely as if …intentionally destroyed. At a short distance from this spot, it seemed to have rested itself under a tree, as a circular space seven feet and a half feet in diameter was observed, where the ground had sunk a little under its weight. On resuming its course, it altered its direction,which,however, still pointed to the heights. On reaching the public road it was compelled to pass through a quick hedge, three branches of which were found broken. 

It`s pace was perfectly visible in the middle of the road, and on its sides. It proceeded as far as the most elevated part of the common, where its track was suddenly lost in a torrent. Till then it had followed the unequalities (sic) of the ground, and in the corn and hemp fields which it had crossed, the blades were found completely crushed, without any trampling on the left or on the right, which might have induced a belief that men had occasioned that devastation. According to the width of its path; which gives pretty accurately the diameter of its size, the animal must be upwards of three feet in circumference. It has not been seen by any person, but its trace has been observed again on the common of Crolles, from which it may be thought that it has once more descended towards the river.” (1)

  1. The Pittsburgh Gazette 1/11/1809


An expanded version of this blog will appear in Flying Snake 7 in late March 2014.

BIGFOOT NEWS IN BRIEF



On the Trail of Florida's Bigfoot—the Skunk Ape
It was 1974, a few years after his father came upon a set of footprints left by the creature—an Everglades version of Bigfoot named for its supposedly ...

Bigfoot Hoax - Video - National Geographic
In 1967, Roger Patterson claimed he captured Bigfoot on film. But does the evidence point toward a giant ape or a man in an ape suit? Join a team of ...

Bigfoot Evidence: Watch: Fresh Bigfoot Track Find
The Rocky Mountain Sasquatch Organization spends more time in the field than we do on the computer. We're not sure a day goes by that they aren't ...

Cryptid. Scripted.
... success of shows like Animal Planet's Finding Bigfoot (who persistently remains unfound) and their infamous hoax, Mermaids: The New Evidence, ...

Edmonton sasquatch researcher headed to Toronto and Dragons' Den
During his audition in Edmonton Arcand talked about what he thought was a face-to-face encounter in the mountains with a Bigfoot that ran up to him ...

Bigfoot Shot at Gunpowder Falls Maryland ? > Bigfoot Buzz
down bigfoot. CP Notes > I watch this video and I have lots of doubts on its reality, but I'm just the reporter I leave it to you and

Bigfootevidencenews: Breaking News !! Bigfoot Medical Evidence Released and explained by ...
Breaking News !! Bigfoot Medical Evidence Released and explained by Medical DR. https://www.facebook.com/rickdyerofficial like 

Bigfoot Evidence: Bigfoot In Snowy Background?
Bigfoot Evidence Shawn
This is pretty strange and apparently, it's from a "non-Bigfooter". The Squatchers Lounge member Sommer Anne shared this photograph that was ...

RICK DYER: First Bigfoot Medical Evidence Released and explained by Medical Doctor ...
RICK DYER: First Bigfoot Medical Evidence Released and explained by ... are back Statement and High Resolution photos from Rick Dyers Bigfoot 

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 are publishing a regular round-up of the stories as they come in. 

The worldwide mystery cat phenomenon (or group of phenomena, if we are to be more accurate) is not JUST about cryptozoology. At its most basic level it is about the relationship between our species and various species of larger cat. That is why sometimes you will read stories here that appear to have nothing to do with cryptozoology but have everything to do with human/big cat interaction. As committed Forteans, we believe that until we understand the nature of these interactions, we have no hope of understanding the truth that we are seeking. 

  • NEWSLINK: March 2014 photo contest: Big cats
  • NEWSLINK: Global March for Lions - Sustainable Use...
  • NEWSLINK: Win tickets to a talk on the secrets of ...
  • BIG CAT SIGHTINGS
  • NEWSLINK: Smithsonian scientist confirms missing l...
  • VIDEO: Lions filmed at night at Bristol Zoo

  • VIDEO: Now at Big Cat Rescue March 3 2014 Interns ...
  • OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today

    Yesterday’s News Today
    http://cryptozoologynews.blogspot.com/

    On this day in 1978 the first episode of the ground breaking science fiction comedy radio series The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy was first broadcast.
    And now the news:

  • City wildlife to bear brunt of planning reforms
  • UK launches bee protection plan – but asks pestici...
  • The price of repeated wildlife crime in Britain – ...
  • Elephant age estimated from voice: A powerful cons...
  • Indonesian clerics issue Fatwa against killing end...
  • Teen elephant mothers die younger but have bigger ...
  • International court promises decision on Japanese ...

  • Why are some snakes so venomous?

  • The series was adapted into books, a tv series and even a film, here's the film trailer:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbGNcoB2Y4I