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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Wednesday, July 03, 2019

DOING THE RIGHT THING

It is one of the slightly irritating tropes within certain sectors of cryptozoology that disaffected cryptotypes claim that “mainstream scientists” will “suppress information if it conflicts with their own views and theories”.

It was this type of information that Charles Fort classified as “damned, as in excluded” in his classic Book of the Damned (1919).

Well, I suppose that there is no better way of marking the century since that book was first published than by releasing a piece of our own “damned” knowledge. The CFZ exists, as I have always said, to find out the truth behind things rather than to worship paradigms, and so, although a few weeks ago we were very excited by the discovery of a dead pine marten in Teignbridge, on the south side of Dartmoor, we can now bring you another part of the story.

I contacted the person who found the dead body, hoping against hope that he had kept it. It turns out that he had done better than that. He took it and had it scanned for microchips, and it turns out that the creature had been transported from Scotland to Wales, where it had been released.

Somehow, and this is still a mystery, it had made its way from Wales to Devon, where it died.
Whilst dictating this to Olivia, she drew my attention to a recent story in The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/02/fantastic-arctic-fox-animal-walks-3500km-from-norway-to-canada), which proves that sometimes relatively small mammals can make unprecedented journeys.

The second mystery is - of course – how and why it turned up in exactly the part of Devon that it did. Because it was near here that there were sightings of martens in the 1970s and 1980s, as chronicled in my book, The Smaller Mystery Carnivores of the West Country (1996).

Whilst we are, of course, disappointed that we can now disprove any suggestion that this animal was part of a relict population of these creatures that had survived for the last century or so, it is important, we think, to continue looking for evidence of Devon pine martens. This species has been proven to have survived in various parts of England in recent years, including Shropshire and Hampshire, the latter location of which we had predicted in the aforementioned book. There have also been unsubstantiated reports from other parts of England, including Cornwall.

As they say, watch this space.

BIGFOOT NEWS IN BRIEF



And so now Matthiessen's nephew, science journalist Jeff Wheelwright, has delved into his uncle's little-known Bigfoot obsession in an essay for Yale ...

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 LAST WEEK AT THE CFZ-USA BLOG

CFZ-USA


  • TARZAN'S FEMALE COUNTERPART
  • STRANGE HUMANOID FIGURE
  • PUKWUDGIES BETTER AVOIDED
  • THE BUNYIP MAY HAVE EXISTED
  • NDEs ARE REPORTED FREQUENTLY
  • UFO SECRECY
  • CFZ NEWSLETTER
  • BIGFOOT AND PANCAKES
  • POLICE SNIPER OBSERVES BIGFOOT
  • GIANT WOMBAT FOSSIL
  • BLACK VULTURES IN KENTUCKY
  • PEEKING CREATURE OF BOCA CHICA BEACH
  • SAN JUAN GARGOYLE
  • THREE POSSIBLE SIGHTINGS OF STRANGE BEINGS
  • FAIRY SIGHTING
  • REVERSE ENGINEERING ALIEN GRAY
  • GIANT TARANTULAS IN TEXAS
  • WHAT IS A CHAWAH?
  • SCARY BIGFOOT SIGHTINGS
  • THREE BIGFOOT SEEN FROM AIRPLANE
  • IS BIGFOOT A FOREST SPIRIT?
  • 10 JERSEY DEVIL SIGHTINGS
  • TALL WHITE FIGURE
  • WHEN IS A BEAR NOT A BEAR?
  • HUAY CHIVO - SHAPESHIFTER OF MEXICO
  • ON THE TRACK #104
  • CIRCHOS - UNKNOWN HUMANOID
  • GIANT SQUID IN SPAIN
  • NEW ZEALAND'S BIGFOOT
  • UNKNOWN CREATURES ON KITCHEN FLOOR
  • SHADOW BEING WITH SOMBRERO
  • TWO SPECIES AVOID EXTINCTION IN THE WILD
  • 10 MONGOLIAN DEATH WORM SIGHTINGS
  • SASQUATCH FAMILY NEARBY
  • SEVEN DOGMAN ENCOUNTERS
  • SKUNK APE VIDEO
  • OHIO BIGFOOT
  • 10 BIGFOOT SEEN
  • LEGENDARY CREATURES - NEVADA AND ELSEWHERE
  • RED-EYED HUMANOID
  • FEMALE BIGFOOT SET FREE
  • MYSTERY ALLEGED FACTS ABOUT SKINWALKER RANCH
  • PUKWUDGIE - NATIVE AMERICAN DIMINUTIVE BEING
  • TWO KINDS OF BIGFOOT?
  • BIGFOOT FOOT LENGTH
  • THE POISON OF THE PUFFERFISH
  • ILOMBA - SUPPOSED MAGIC BEAST
  • ENDANGERED SNAILS RETURNED TO BERMUDA
  • GLOBAL INSECT DECLINE
  • NITTAEWO REPORTED IN SRI LANKA
  • NEW ZEALAND WILDMAN ENCOUNTER
  • GIANT GRAY MAN
  • STRANGE WINGED CREATURE
  • BIGFOOT IN THE ECOSYSTEM
  • EXTREME ACTS OF FAERIE KINDNESS
  • TWO ENCOUNTERS: DOGMAN AND BIGFOOT
  • GRIEF OF ELEPHANTS
  • THE ROAR AT MOULTON FALLS
  • GIANT BIRDS OF USA
  • FOUR NEW SPECIES OF SPIDER
  • HYBRID BEASTS
  • A CHILEAN DINOSAUR?
  • MANIPOGO - CANADIAN LAKE MONSTER
  • WATER HOUNDS OF ICELAND
  • CONGOLESE DINOSAURS
  • SHUNKA WARAK'IN - BEAST OF AMERICA
  • SKUNK APE RESEARCH
  • BIGFOOT IN PENNSYLVANIA
  • LOST CITY HARBORS RARE ANIMALS


  • BIGFOOT AND HIGH STRANGENESS
  • 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.


    THE GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN DOES HIS UTMOST



    The Gonzo Daily: Wednesday
    https://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/

    The CFZ exists, as I have always said, to find out the truth behind things rather than to worship paradigms, and so, although a few weeks ago we were very excited by the discovery of a dead pine marten in Teignbridge, on the south side of Dartmoor, we can now bring you another part of the story.  I contacted the person who found the dead body, hoping against hope that he had kept it. It turns out that he had done better than that. He took it and had it scanned for microchips, and it turns out that the creature had been transported from Scotland to Wales, where it had been released. Somehow, and this is still a mystery, it had made its way from Wales to Devon, where it died.

    Whilst we are, of course, disappointed that we can now disprove any suggestion that this animal was part of a relict population of these creatures that had survived for the last century or so, it is important, we think, to continue looking for evidence of Devon pine martens. Although they had long been thought to have been driven to extinction in England by the 1870s, relict populations have been found in parts of central and southern England in recent years, (including areas which I cited in my book) and we remain convinced that they will be found in Devon sooner rather than later.

    BTW, is there anyone out there who is relatively social-media and/or Patreon savvy? We really need a bit of help ewith these two things, 'cos we are getting a little bogged down.

    Toodle-pip

    YER EDITOR SEZ: THE DIGITAL PRAYER FLAG
    You guys recently did massive amounts of praying for Corinna, and she now appears to be cancer free. I am convinced that these two things are related, with the outpouring of good vibes transmitted electronically, being a little like a Tibetan prayer flag. Having used it once to such good effect - I want to try it on a larger scale. I am still trying to work out the details, so watch this space.

    Find out more:
    https://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/p/a-prayer-flag-lung-ta-is-colourful.html

    Blessed be.

    ALL TODAY'S GONZO NEWS WOT'S FIT TO PRINT:

    https://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2019/07/the-gonzo-track-of-day-britten-simple.html
    THE GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY: Britten: Simple Sympho...
    https://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2019/07/intimate-gigs-for-fairport-convention.html
    INTIMATE GIGS FOR FAIRPORT CONVENTION
    https://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2019/07/yes-at-meadow-brook.html
    YES AT MEADOW BROOK
    https://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2019/07/thom-world-poet-daily-poem_3.html
    THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem
    https://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2019/07/the-prog-rock-storyteller.html
    The Prog Rock Storyteller

    For those of you who are interested in such things, the Gonzo Privacy Policy is here:

    http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/p/privacy-policy-this-privacy-policy.html

    And the CFZ Privacy Policy is here:
    http://tinyurl.com/y7b9rlog
    And, yes,
    http://forteanzoology.blogspot.com/p/privacy-policy-this-privacy-policy.html

    CHECK OUT THE GONZO STORES:

    UK
    http://www.gonzomultimedia.co.uk/
    US
    http://www.gonzomultimedia.com

    AND OTHER STUFF FEATURING VARIOUS GONZO CONTRIBUTORS:

    Our webTV show:
    https://www.facebook.com/OnTheTrack/posts/632561497117057
    And if you fancy supporting it on Patreon:
    https://www.patreon.com/CFZ

    And by the way chaps and chappesses, a trip to the Jon Downes megastore may seem to be in order:
    https://gonzotesting.blogspot.com/2018/07/a-notion-of-shopkeepers.html
    Meanwhile I continue to pretend that I am a popstar, because now I have sold eight whole copies of my new album Coldharbour. If I continue at this rate I will get a silver disc sometime at the beginning of the next millenium. Coldharbour, by the way, can be found here: https://jondownes1.bandcamp.com/releases

    I think it is really rather good, but then again I would say that wouldn't I?

    AND THE LATEST ISSUE OF THE GONZO MAGAZINE:

    Gonzo Weekly #343/4
    THE STRANGEFOLK ISSUE
    http://www.gonzoweekly.com/

    This week we celebrate the return of the lovely Liz Lenten of Auburn, with a spectacular new slice of Americana. Doug is back with a look at Depeche Mode, Alan writes to Teresa May and Nicola Sturgeon, goes to see Baltic Crossing, and attends a Street Music Conference,  Graham talks Hawkwind, while Jon eulogises Storm Chorus, and is bamboozled by Bob Dylan.

    Hail Eris!

    And there are radio shows from Mack Maloney and Friday Night Progressive AND Strange Fruit there is a columns from Kev Rowland, but Mr Biffo, C J Stone, and Roy Weard, Neil Nixon and the irrepressible Corinna are on hiatus.  There is also a collection of more news, reviews, views, interviews and potoroos who are fallen for a ruse (OK, nothing to do with tiny marsupials who are easily obfuscated, 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:

    Bob Dylan, Justified Ancients of Mu Mu, Storm Chorus, The Hollow Men, Rebecca Denniff, David Owen, The FLK, The Beatles, Brian Epstein, Glastonbury 2019, Extinction Rebellion, Joy Division, Miles Davis, Dr. John, The Who, Alan Dearling, Republic of Užupis, Strange Fruit, Friday Night Progressive, Canterbury Sans Frontieres, Mack Maloney's Mystery Hour, Enrico Nascimbeni, Paul "Lil Buck" Sinegal (born Paul Alton Senegal), Richard Stephen Shaw (aka Bushwick Bill), Spencer Ward Bohren, Chuck Glaser, Tre Da Kid (born Edward Montre Seay), André Coelho Matos, Sergio Augusto Bustamante, Malcolm John Rebennack Jr. (aka Dr. John), Mikey Dees, Karlheinz  Miklin, Gian Franco Corsi Zeffirelli KBE, Grande Ufficiale OMRI, Rick Wakeman, Arthur Brown, Gregg Kofi Brown, Norma Waterson feat. Richard Thompson, Martin Carthy, Danny Thompson and Eliza Carthy, Paice, Ashton & Lord, The Mitchell Trio inc. John Denver, Liz Lenten, Auburn, Thomm Jutz, Doug Harr, Depeche Mode, Street Music, Mykaell Riley, Tony Lidington aka Uncle Tacko, Kelvin Mason, Lotte Reimer, Sarha Moore, Vivian Doumpa, Gina Arnold, Chester Bingley, Kate Jones, MSFN Workshops, George McKay, Michelle Bagnall, UEA, Kev Rowland, Jizzy Pearl of Love/Hate, Jungsu Choi Tiny, Kataklysm, Surmiser, Torture Rack, Power Trip, Klaus Schulze, Baltic Crossing, Kristian Bugge, Tony Klinger, Mr. Biffo, Digitiser, C J Stone, Hawkwind, Jonathan Downes, The Wild Colonial Boy, Martin Springett, Cassandra Clare, Shadowhunters

    And the last few issues are:

    Issue 343-4 (Auburn)
    https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-341-2.html
    Issue 341-42 (America)
    https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-341-2.html
    Issue 339-40 (Kev Rowland)
    https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-339-40.html
    Issue 337-38 (Zee)
    https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-337-8.html
    Issue 335-36 (Raz)
    https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-335-6.html
    Issue 333-34 (Nepal)
    https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-333-4.html
    Issue 331-32 (Scott Walker)
    https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-331-2.html
    Issue 329-30 (Charlie X)
    https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-329-30.html
    Issue 327-28 (Hawkwind)
    https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-327-8.html
    Issue 325-26 (Gonzo)
    https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-325-5.html
    Issue 323-24 (Irvine Welsh)
    https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-323-4.html
    Issue 321-22 (Discordianism)
    https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-321-2.html
    Issue 319-20 (Brix Smith)
    https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-319-20.html
    Issue 317-18 (Christmas)
    https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-317-18.html
    Issue 315-16 (Steve Miller)
    https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-315-16.html
    Issue 313-14 (Hawkwind)
    https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-313-14.html
    Issue 311-12 (Extinction Rebellion)
    https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-310-11.html
    Issue 309-10 (Steve Hillage)
    https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-309-10.html
    Issue 307-8 (Michael Moorcock)
    https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-307-8.html
    Issue 305-6 (Maartin Allcock)
    https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-305-6.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 59 who - together with a Jack Russell called Archie, an infantile orange cat named after a song by Frank Zappa, three other cats, one 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. He is ably assisted by his lovely wife Corinna, his elderly mother-in-law, and a motley collection of social malcontents. Plus.. did we mention Archie and the Cats?

    NEWS FROM NOWHERE: Wednesday

    ON THIS DAY IN -  1790 - In Paris, the marquis of Condorcet proposed granting civil rights to women. 
    And now some more recent news from the CFZ Newsdesk

  • 'Russian spy whale': the disturbing history of mil...
  • Turtle study shows gender lifespan differences lik...
  • 'Historic day for Scotland' as beavers get protect...

  • European eel found to spawn across 2000 km wide re...

  • AND TO WHISTLE WHILE YOU WORK... (Music that may have some relevance to items also on this page, or may just reflect my mood on the day)