CRYPTOZOOLOGY ONLINE: Still on the Track: 01/05/16

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...

Tuesday, January 05, 2016

MUIRHEAD`S MYSTERIES: Some hairless horses you may never have met

I recently came across a mystery animal that has bolted from the stable of cryptozoological familiarity only to roam in the waste-lands of cryptozoological obscurity. Namely the hairless horse. Here I present three old newspaper stories about this mystery beast, dating from 1838,1880 and 1892 respectively.

The Sun (Baltimore, Maryland) February 1^st 1838.

A Hairless Horse – There is a horse exhibiting at Tattersalls, New York , that has not a particle of hair on any part of his body,and whose skin resembles that of an elephant. It is said his dam was frightened at an elephant, and his owner was so much frightened at his appearance that he gave him away to a neighbour,who, after he was three years old, sold him for $2,300.

The Osage City Free Press (Osage City, Kansas) May 6^th 1880

GEN. KAUPMANN has just presented to the Zoological Garden at Moscow a hairless horse from Central Asia. The animal belongs to a hybrid species ,and is considered a great rarity; it is well formed, but its skin is red and without the slightest trace of hair, and in cold Moscow it has to be kept covered with blankets.

Tombstone Weekly Epitaph (Tombstone, Arizona) March 13^th, 1892.

THE HAIRLESS HORSE. An otherwise perfect animal absolutely destitute of hair.

Some weeks ago we gave a description and illustration of a horse with phenomenal growth of the hair of the mane and tail, the rest of his coat being quite normal. In the present issue we reproduce from the Scientific American an example of the opposite extreme ,from a life study of the curious animal portrayed. This is a horse absolutely destitute of hair. Neither neck nor tail nor any part of the body shows the least hirsute growth. The texture of the skin is silky and smooth; the color is almost a full black. The animal is of rather heavy type, and with his delicate surface does not produce any unpleasant impression. There are said to be two such horses known to exist in this country. One of them was foaled in the west; the one we illustrate is credited to Australia.

The skin in one of thee animals is affected curiously, the perspiratory function seeming to be absent. The horse does not sweat when exercised, and the mouth or nose seems to provide the escape for what would otherwise be true skin perspiration.

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.

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.

UK SIGHTING: Locals terrified after another sighti...

ARTICLE: 17,000 dogs in Corbett a big threat to it...

BIGFOOT NEWS IN BRIEF

Outdoorsman Has Terrifying Bigfoot Encounter

Bigfoot Evidence

From Bigfoot Eyewitness Radio: Dave Wheeler is an avid Outdoorsman, who spends a lot of time in the woods. Two of his favorite past times are ...

THE GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN IS IN A FOWL MOOD

The Gonzo Daily - Wednesday

http://www.gonzomultimedia.co.uk/about.html

Yesterday Jessica came back to work after her Christmas break, and I coughed and spluttered like an asthmatic walrus. As I had noted on many occasions on this hallowed pages, I dislike what is euphemistically known as ‘The Festive Season’, and I am quite glad that it is over for another year. However, this year brings with it a whole slew of problems of its own, so I am squaring up for battle. This is the process that will quite probably irritate everybody with whom I interact on a daily basis. So, my dears, I apologise in advance.

THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem

http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/thom-world-poet-daily-poem_6.html

THE GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY: Thrice - Daedalus

http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/the-gonzo-track-of-day-thrice-daedalus.html

GERMAN MIKE OLDFIELD/TONY PALMER REVIEW

http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/german-mike-oldfieldtony-palmer-review.html

HAWKWIND'S BROCK RECALLS FIRING JOKES WITH LEMMY

http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/hawkwinds-brock-recalls-firing-jokes.html

45 Years Ago: Captain Beefheart Continues His Wild...

http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/45-years-ago-captain-beefheart.html

Gonzo Weekly #163

www.gonzoweekly.com

Lemmy, Hawkwind, Bridget Wishart, Twink, Brand X, Percy Jones, Digitiser, Mr Biffo, Jaki Windmill, Roy Weard, Dogwatch, That Legendary Wooden Lion, Hawkwind, and Yes fans had better look out!

What was once supposed to be the "Ring out the Old, Ring in the New, Blah Blah Blah" edition has become a tribute to the recently deceased Lemmy, together with Jon's look back at the best records of the year, Doug's look at the best gigs, an interview with one-time Hawkwind chanteuse Bridget Wishart, another with Brand X bass dude Percy Jones, a review of Hawkwind during 2015, and columns from all sorts of folk including Mr Biffo. And all this during what is euphemistically known as 'The Festive Season'. Golly! There is also a collection of more news, reviews, views, interviews and antechinuses wanting poos (OK, nothing to do with small marsupials who are slightly constipated, 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!!!

This issue features:

Jimmy Page, P J Harvey, AC/DC, Trent Reznor, The Beatles, Michael Jackson, EODM, Madonna, Wilko Johnson, David Bowie, Barbara Dickson, N.W.A., Galahad, Strange Harvest, Friday Night Progressive, Mack Maloney's Mystery Hour, Jaki Windmill, Tim Rundall, Adam Roth, Mick Lynch, Mary Joan Okum, James Hill OBE, Peter Broggs, Johnny Winter, 13th Floor Elevators, Spirits Burning, The Pirates, Dee Palmer, Freddie King, The Selecter, Ducks De Luxe, Alexis Korner, James Brown, John Lee Hooker, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Judge Smith, John Brodie Good, Public Service Broadcasting, The Long Lost Band, Jacqui McShee's Pentangle, Spooky Ghost, Gary Duncan Quicksilver, Drones for Daevid, Pink Fairies, John Martyn, Liz Lenten, Wreckless Eric, Howard Eynon, Roy Weard, Trim Tab Jim, My Dad's LPs, A J Smitrovich, Mr Biffo, Ken Worthington, John Shuttleworth, Hawkwind, Alan Friswell, Xtul, Elvis, Black Sabbath, One Direction, Cliff Richard, Yoko Ono, Yes, Neil Nixon, Emit Bloch, Cave Growl

Read the previous few issues of Gonzo Weekly:

Issue 160 (Frank Zappa)

http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo159.html

Issue 159 (Jon Anderson and Matt Malley)

http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo159.html

Issue 158 (Billy Sherwood)

http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo158.html

Issue 157 (Drones for Daevid)

http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo157.html

Issue 156 (Rick and Emmie)

http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo156.html

Issue 155 (Pink Fairies)

http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo155.html

Issue 154 (Steve Ignorant)

http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo154.html

Issue 153 (Martin Barre)

http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo153.html

Issue 152 (4th Eden)

http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo152.html

Issue 151 (Corky Laing)

http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo151.html

Issue 150 (Roger Dean)

http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo150.html

Issue 149 (Tony Palmer in Space)

http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo149.html

Issue 148 (Wally Hope)

http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo148.html

Issue 147 (Thom the World Poet cover)

http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo147.html

Issue 146 (Bee and Flower cover)

http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo146.html

Issue 145 (Dave Brock cover)

http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo145.html

Issue 144 (Percy Jones cover)

http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo144.html

Issue 143 (Billy Sherwood cover)

http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo143.html

Issue 142 (Daevid Allen and Spirits Burning cover)

http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo142.html

Issue 141 (Rick Wakeman cover)

http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo141.html

Issue 140 (Jaki Windmill cover)

http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo140.html

Issue 139 (Raz cover)

http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo139.html

Issue 138 (Galahad cover)

http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo138.html

Issue 137 (Chris Squire cover)

http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo137.html

Issue 136 (Neil Nixon cover)

http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo136.html

Issue 135 (FNP cover)

http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo135.html

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!

You can download the magazine in pdf form HERE:

http://www.gonzoweekly.com/pdf/

SPECIAL NOTICE: If you, too, want to unleash the power of your inner rock journalist, and want to join a rapidly growing band of likewise minded weirdos please email me at jon@eclipse.co.uk The more the merrier really.

* 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.co.uk

* 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 56 who - together with an infantile orange cat named after a song by Frank Zappa, and a small kitten totally coincidentally named after one of the Manson Family, purely because she squeaks, 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 young lady called Jessica. 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 infantile orange cat, and the adventurous kitten?

The Gonzo Daily - On the Twelfth Day of Christmas

http://www.gonzomultimedia.co.uk/about.html

It's the last day of Christmas

for another fifty weeks,

and I can get back to writing

for crypto fans and music freaks

and I'm in a bloody awful mood

cos I'm waiting for a letter

but at least after all the lemsips

my cold seems to be slightly better

Toodle Pip

THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem

http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/thom-world-poet-daily-poem_5.html

THE GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY: Marscape - Jack Lancas...

http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/the-gonzo-track-of-day-marscape-jack.html

Rick Wakeman/Eric Burdon - Gas Tank (1983)

http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/rick-wakemaneric-burdon-gas-tank-1983.html

Christmas Special Intros Round | Bill Bailey & Ric...

http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/christmas-special-intros-round-bill.html

Dweezil Zappa On Dad's Music: We Treat It 'Like It...

http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/dweezil-zappa-on-dads-music-we-treat-it.html

Gonzo Weekly #163

www.gonzoweekly.com

Lemmy, Hawkwind, Bridget Wishart, Twink, Brand X, Percy Jones, Digitiser, Mr Biffo, Jaki Windmill, Roy Weard, Dogwatch, That Legendary Wooden Lion, Hawkwind, and Yes fans had better look out!

This issue features:

Read the previous few issues of Gonzo Weekly:

Issue 160 (Frank Zappa)

http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo159.html

Issue 159 (Jon Anderson and Matt Malley)

http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo159.html

Issue 158 (Billy Sherwood)

http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo158.html

Issue 157 (Drones for Daevid)

http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo157.html

Issue 156 (Rick and Emmie)

http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo156.html