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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Tuesday, May 20, 2014

CRYPTOLINK: 'Chupacabra' Might Be Subspecies of Coati

A word about cryptolinks: we are not responsible for the content of cryptolinks, which are merely links to outside articles that we think are interesting (sometimes for the wrong reasons), usually posted up without any comment whatsoever from me. 

 All of the local biologists are saying that what was found in Ratcliffe was a hairless raccoon; however, I believe the evidence points to a hairless white-nosed coati (Nasua narica) or a new, undiscovered subspecies. Even though we live in a developed country, there is a lot of land out there, especially in a state like Texas, for even megafauna to go relatively unnoticed; however, since we are in South Texas, which has one of the highest rates of biodiversity in the United States, finding weird and uncommon animals should not be a surprise.

In an April 7 article, Jackie Stock is quoted saying the animal "has a growl that's not like a raccoon, its eyes don't shine at night, and its feces is also not like a raccoon." Metaphorically speaking, if it sort of looks like a duck and doesn't quack like a duck, it's not a duck but perhaps a cousin of a duck.

Belonging to the same family as the raccoon and with a South American coati cousin, the white-nosed coati is an omnivore that commonly lives in wooded areas of mostly Central America and Mexico. The southern limit of its range stops in Columbia, while the northern limit extends or used to extend into southeastern Arizona, New Mexico, South Texas and the southern half of the Trans Pecos. The majority of the Texas populations most likely died out because of habit fragmentation and destruction from land use and land cover changes taking place over the last 100 to 200 years; however, the post oak savanna of northern South Texas and the current increasing conversion from post oak savanna to post oak woodland in the DeWitt County area to be more specific could have provided favorable conditions for an isolated population to survive and even thrive.

Read on...
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CRYPTOLINK: Did H.R. Giger Invent the Chupacabra?

A word about cryptolinks: we are not responsible for the content of cryptolinks, which are merely links to outside articles that we think are interesting (sometimes for the wrong reasons), usually posted up without any comment whatsoever from me. 

Of the famous cryptids, the chupacabra is probably the strangest. But it is also the newest. In fact before 1995, no one had ever actually seen the "goat-sucker". There were reports of something killing farm animals, but nobody had actually laid eyes on one. But did the first eye-witness of the creature lie about what they saw? Furthermore, was the entire thing nothing more than a creation by the recently deceased legendary sci-fi artist H.R. Giger? Well respected skeptic Benjamin Radford believes so.

"HR Giger, famous for creating the Xenomorph in Alien, had designed Sil; the alien has his familiar biomechanical elements grafted onto the body of Natasha Henstridge. And it looks a lot like the chupacabra. Says Radford:

So, just how similar is Sil to the Puerto Rican goatsucker? Well, if Giger were God, his art could have been used as a blueprint for creating the chupacabra. Sketches of the chupacabra’s long, thin fingers and claws appear on page 24; its distinctive spine spikes can be seen on the Species creature on pages 25–29 and throughout the book. In the end, I identified over a dozen morphological similarities. The parallels grow even stronger when we consider Tolentino’s account of the chupacabra’s actions: she described it as hissing – something Sil does in the film – and also leaping fantastic distances with superhuman agility; again, something the Species creature also does.

Read on...
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TODAY'S BIG CAT NEWS


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: Micke Grove Zoo's latest big cat is youn...
  • NEWSLINK: Tiger's presence scares villagers

  • NEWSLINK: Tigers take to the catwalk at Philadelph...

    •
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    BIGFOOT NEWS IN BRIEF



    'Shooting Bigfoot' review by Owen Hughes • Letterboxd
    Having watched most of the documentaries shown during BBC4's recent Storyville season, I have to admit, Shooting Bigfoot (the last episode in the ...

    Bigfoot Evidence: Watch Bigfoot Torments Family Captured on Video
    Bigfoot Evidence ⋅ Matt K.
    According to this video, a family has been tormented by a group of bigfoot that lives in the woods across the street from their residential home. A book ...

    The Peak
    Sasquatch capture disappointingly easy
    SQUAMISH – Local hiker Bob Jamison has finally found the Sasquatch, stumbling into him on a hiking trip. Bigfoot, or “Foot” as he likes to be called, ...

    Kultus: The Bigfoot Novel: Did Ancient Giants Once Rule North America?
    Here is Benjamin West's (above) depiction of the 1682 treaty between William Penn and the Lenni Lenape Indians. This Indian nation had members ...

    Bigfoot Tracker News: Five Steps To Creating A Cult
    People have an overwhelming desire to believe in some- thing. Become the focal point of such desire by offering them a cause, a new faith to follow.

    Non-Urban Legends & Exploring the Bigfoot Legend in Yosemite : Beaut-Tree.net
    The other week I had a revelation, I realized why the leave no trace mascot is bigfoot! Admittedly it should not have taken me this long, but in my ...

    Bigfoot Evidence: Watch LA Bigfoot Sighting, Honey Island Swamp Creature, Bigfoot Transcendence
    Join Rev. Jeff for a look at the weeks top Bigfoot Stories Like Bigfoot Sighted outside of LA California, New Doc on the Honey Island Swamp Monster 

    Watch: Michigan BFRO Latest Bigfoot Report | Bigfoot Research News
    Jim Sherman of the Michigan BFRO (Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization) brings us the latest Bigfoot report coming out of Michigan.

    BIGFOOT: The Beast of Kentucky: 05/19/14
    Northern KY Bigfoot Research Group Field Report and Overnight Expedition 5-17-14. On 05/17/2014, the 3 primary investigators returned to the ...

    BIGFOOT: The Beast of Kentucky: 05/19/14
    Northern KY Bigfoot Research Group Field Report and Overnight Expedition 5-17-14. On 05/17/2014, the 3 primary investigators returned to the ...

    Perhilitan: Prints made by elephants
    JOHOR BARU: The state Wildlife and National Parks Department has confirmed that the alleged Bigfoot tracks discovered near the Endau-Rompin

    Canadian Bigfoot News- May 2014 | Miss Squatcher's Bigfoot Adventures
    Harrison Hot Springs and the shores of Harrison lake have a long history of bigfoot activity and the elusive sasquatch is an important part of Sts'ailes 

    Bigfoot Evidence: Watch Looking for Bigfoot with Super Blogger Sharon Day
    The Looking for Bigfoot New Hour wraps up their current season with a great show and interview with special guest Sharon Day. Sharon runs the 

    Bigfoot Evidence: Listen to Sasquatch Chronicles: Incredible Story of People Chased Out of The ...
    We had seen The Legend of Boggy Creek a year before, so I guess that's why we settled on Bigfoot as the likely explanation. To make a long story ...

    Bigfoot Evidence: This is an Awesome Female Bigfoot Illustration by Dredfunn!
    World's Only 24/7 Bigfoot News Blog: Encouraging readers to draw their own ... This illustration is of the bada$$ female bigfoot named Nulas. Check

    Prepare yourself for Florida's first Bigfoot Conference. It will be in September in the beautiful city Orlando, right up the road from Disney World and 

    Big Foot Archives : MTL Blog | MTL Blog
    Possible First Ever Live Sighting Of Bigfoot In Canada's British Columbia. We may no longer be alone. MTL Blog. Photos · Events · Contact Us

    LiveLeak.com - Ketchikan Alaska Bigfoot Sighting HD (Enhanced)
    If there is a BigFoot, Sasquatch, or Kushtaka I swear I saw him!! source : http://mysteryhistory.tv/bigfoot-sighting-in-ketchikan-alaska/ Original Video

    Shoots Bigfoot | TODAY IN BIGFOOT HISTORY!
    TODAY IN BIGFOOT HISTORY! 1982, Chena River, Alaska: Hunter Shoots Bigfoot. Steve “Bucky” Calhoun was hunting goat in the Chena River State 

    Muddy prints feed Bigfoot lore in Malaysia | Doubtful News
    A set of huge footprints have made the news as possibly from the Malaysian version of Bigfoot. Man, it's A BIG FOOT. A Big deal about footprints ...
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    NESSIENEWS (Caveat Lector)



    Whisky, Kilts, and the Loch Ness Monster - Google Docs
    Whisky, Kilts, and the Loch Ness Monster by William W. Starr. Whisky, Kilts, and the Loch Ness Monster is a memoir of a twenty-first-century literary

    Dread Central

    The Blood Stream: Beneath Loch Ness
    While the monster in Beneath Loch Ness is fairly crude, the overall design is solid. It's rooted in common notions of what prehistoric creatures should ...

    Loch Ness Monster Not Found In Apple Maps – TechCrunch | Tech News
    Forbes Loch Ness Monster Not Found In Apple Maps TechCrunch Seriously, people.

    The Loch Ness Monster - News - Bubblews
    OF ALL THE MYTHICAL BEASTS in the world, the most famous, most hunted for, and most talked about must be 'Nessie' the Loch Ness Monster. She ...

    Global superstar Katy Perry goes on the hunt for the Loch Ness Monster
    The singer, who played at Glasgow's SSE Hydro over the weekend, posted on her Twitter account that she was going to go try to catch “Nessie”.


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    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. 


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    THE GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN COMPLAINS INCESSANTLY

    The Gonzo Daily - Tuesday
    A strange day. We have agreed to become foster parents to one of Beth's rescued hedgehogs which cannot be released. The idea being to see if we can breed from it and then release the progeny. My nephew Ross managed to breed them a few years back, and we want to do likewise. Morally if you take anything from the wild, for whatever reason, you are removing it from the gene pool, so we hope that by doing this we shall be redressing the damage. Saskia and Graham are designing the enclosure for it in the most eco friendly and aesthetically pleasing style as part of Saskia's training course. I also have the legendary Keith Levene, doing some graphic stuff with me via Facebook, and several other things all going on at the same time. Who says that men cannot multitask?
    Just in case you missed it, the latest issue of Gonzo Weekly can be seen now at www.gonzoweekly.com. It features an interview with Barbara Dickson, an exclusive glimpse at the creative process of Roger Dean, Clepsydra remembering their collaboration with H R Giger, The National live, we welcome Friday Night Progressive to the Gonzo Web Radio family, and there are also new shows from the peculiar multiverse of Sub Reality Sandwich (this week they are in outer space making scatological jokes about Uranus) and from the multitalented Neil Nixon at Strange Fruit and a collection of more news, reviews, views, interviews and Victorian flues (OK, no 19th Century heating ducts, 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!!!
    The full list of artists in #78 is: H.R. Giger, Morrissey, Robert Plant, Ozzy Osbourne, Bill Ward, Black Sabbath, Roger Daltrey, Wilko Johnson,  Mick Harvey, Judy Dyble, Michael des Barres, Sleepyard, Fish, Gong, Magick Brothers, Pink Fairies, Barbara Dickson, Dave Bainbridge, Erik Norlander, Eric Burdon, Liz Lenten, Auburn, Merrell Fankhauser, Peter Gabriel, Bob Dylan, Strange Fruit, Friday Night Progressive, Mary Stewart, Patrick Woodroffe, Ernie Chataway, Nash the Slash, Morning Glory Zen-Ravenheart, Jean Philippe Rykiel, Joey Molland, David Jackson, Rene van Commenee, Pierre Moerlen’s Gong, Clearlight, Planet Earth Rock ’n’ Roll Orchestra, Kevin Ayers and the Whole World, Galileo 9, Paul Rogers, Radio Moscow, Tinariwen, The National,  Hugh Hopper, Yes, Rick Wakeman, Roger Dean, Trevor Rabin, Jon Anderson John Lennon, The  Beatles, Titled Planet Press, Bay City Rollers, Cliff Richard, Michael Jackson, Justin Bieber, Chief Raoni, Tribal Hybrid Concept, Matte  Handerson, Salem, My Eternel, Sepultura, Oakenshield
    All issues from #70 can be downloaded at www.gonzoweekly.com if you prefer. If you have problems downloading, just email me and I will add you to the Gonzo Weekly dropbox. The first 69 issues are archived there as well. Information is power chaps, we have to share it!
    To make sure that you don't miss your copy of future issues make an old hippy a happy chappy and subscribe
    http://eepurl.com/r-VTD
    *  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 an orange kitten named after a song by Frank Zappa 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 kitten?
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    Cockerel walks like a human

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    OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today


    Today in European Maritime day, which is staged every year by the EU to raise awareness of the seas and their importance.
    And now the news:

  • Australian sheep kill themselves after becoming ‘h...
  • The Weird World of Urban Animal Farming
  • Transgenic mice produce both omega-3, omega-6 fatt...
  • Having and raising offspring is costly phase of li...
  • New effort in Caithness to save great yellow bumbl...
  • Lost 'Nightsnake' Rediscovered on Volcanic Island ...
  • 'No ecological reason' against reintroducing wolve...
  • PICTURES: Huge jellyfish spotted in Cornwall's Hel...
    • It would be remiss of me to post something positive about the EU without giving the contrary viewpoint a mention too, so here is a random recent interview by Nigel Farage to redress the balance:
    No virus found in this message.
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