CRYPTOZOOLOGY ONLINE: Still on the Track

MATT SALUSBURY: Pygmy Elephant Update

2012-02-02T04:43:00.000-08:00

Jon,

Interesting pygmy elephant development.

The book's coming along nicely, I'm working on the "Africa - misidentification?" chapter which is the longest. I came across this reference in Mysterious Creatures – a guide to cryptozoology vol 2 N-Z by George M. Eberhart

This says that in July 1955, – Francois Edmund Blanc was leading an expedition to South Cameroon to collect pygmy elephants for University of Copenhagen.Eberhart writes, “After three hours of tracking on marshy ground, he came across a group of elephants that did not exceed a shoulder height of six feet."

Naturally I enquired with Lars Thomas of Copenhagen University, who replied today with:

Hi Matt,

Well, wouldn't you know. Thanks to my friend Mogens Andersen, who works at the museum as a curatorial assistant, something rather interesting has turned up. In the 50's and 60's the museum had a benefactor, the owner of a Danish medical company, one Bøje Benzon, he was filthy rich, and a very eager big-game hunter. He travelled all over the world and basically shot everything he could put his gunsights on, and when he wasn't, he paid for other people to do the same, and one of these was Edmond-Blanc, who was in Cameroon in 1955, and who did in fact shoot to very small elephants, two females. Mogens have found the notes on them in the museum archives, they are in danish - I can translate them for you if you want. But what is perhaps even more interesting is the fact that the museum does in fact have the skeleton of one of the animals, and the skull of the other. And I can get you photos of those as well.

The latest is that Lars is translating the Danish language notebooks from the expedition, and getting access to the skull and skeleton in the university museum. This is unfortunately a little difficult as it's fallen victim to a beetle infestation so the mammology bit's all wrapped in plastic or stuck in freezers, but he's on the case.

Most "pygmy elephants" in museum collections turned out to be bog standard misidentifed (often juvenile) forest elephants. The 2003 DNA analysis that concluded there is no such thing, did, however, discover an "isolate" or "clade" of forest elephant populations in Cameroon. The Cameroon-Guinea border was where the type specimen of pygmy elephant "Elephas pumillo" (sorry, it turned out to be a bog-standard forest elephant) was supposedly collected.

Both Lars and myself are happy for this to go up on the bloggo. Will update you. Aiming for publication ready for a Weird Weekend August launch.

MATT SALUSBURY

BIG CATS IN GLOUCESTERSHIRE

2012-02-02T04:29:00.000-08:00

So the latest big cat furore in the British press has come to an end; the DNA tests commissioned on saliva from the carcass of a deer found on National Trust land in Gloucestershire have proved to be from a fox.

Hmmmm.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/feb/02/dna-test-mauled-deer-wild-cat
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-16760599

CRYPTOZOOLOGY/ANTHROPOLOGY: Neanderthals and Europe's oldest civilisation

2012-02-02T03:39:00.000-08:00

New on the Frontiers of Zoology:
http://frontiersofzoology.blogspot.com/2012/01/walk-like-neanderthal.html

And on Frontiers of Anthropology:
http://frontiers-of-anthropology.blogspot.com/2012/02/rondel-settlements-and-europes-oldest.html

JON'S JOURNAL: Frost, footprints and a lagomorph mêlée

2012-02-02T02:42:00.000-08:00

Stuff has got in the way over the last few days and I have not had a chance to write up my ongoing nature diary, so I hope that you will all forgive me that today's episode is particularly long and drawn out.

Last week we had snow for the first time in the winter. It was the first really cold day of the season, and I am afraid that the local animals and plants had - like the humans - got a little too complacent (golly I am being stupidly anthropomorphic here) and there was noticeable frost damage. Unfortunately two of my collection of succulents have been affected - I am going to wait and see what happens in the spring rather than to make hasty decisions about shoving all the plants into the conservatory now. After all as I mentioned the other day my mesembryanthemums die off every year in the frost, but come back renewed in the spring/summer.

The frog spawn at Kennerland appears to have been affected by the weather, but whether the cold was severe enough to kill it only time will tell.

Yesterday Prudence, Corinna and I went out to Huddisford for the first time since the snow, and as you can see there was still quite a lot of snow and ice about.

However the froggies have been active, because there is frogspawn in the ditch that we are following this year. It must be newly laid because it wasn't there last week. I have often wondered whether there is a specific reason for the early January spawn. Most years it is killed by the frost and the frogs lay again in march. I wonder whether this has an ecological purpose - as the dead spawn decays it adds nutrients to the little ecosystem of the ditch/pond. I don't know whether this is a hypothesis worth examining further or just one of my idle wonderings.

The little throughfare up the side of the bank above the Huddisford ditch is still being very regularly used. As you can see from the second photograph, there are at least three sets of different sized footprints here.

In one of the fields at the far point of our walk a little drama was taking place. Two magpies appeared to be mobbing a rook near the ground, and then - out of the middle of the mêlée hopped this little fellow. I thought at first that it was a hare, but it turned out to be a rabbit. I have no idea what actually took place in that particular episode of the zoological soap opera that is Huddisford, but Prudence was so enthralled by it all that she refused to get back in the car, and was chastised.

NIGEL WRIGHT: Big cat reports from the Lake District

2012-02-01T05:41:00.000-08:00

TWO MORE BIG CAT REPORTS FROM THE LAKE DISTRICT

2012 has begun with yet more big cat sightings from the Lake District. The following two reports come from the Westmorland Gazette

Windermere pensioner spots 'big cat' in his garden
6:10pm Tuesday 3rd January 2012
ANOTHER ‘big cat’ sighting in the Lake District has re-opened the debate about what the mysterious animal may be. For years, Westmorland Gazette readers have reported seeing large cats at various places across Cumbria and Lancashire. Startled Windermere pensioner Brian Jowett claims he saw the curious creature in the early hours the week before Christmas. Awoken during the night, Mr Jowett noticed security lights come on at his home at Rowanrigg, on Lake Road. He looked out and saw an animal measuring around two feet long with a bushy tail, which he first believed was a fox. But on closer inspection, the 82-year-old realised he was looking at something he had never seen before. “It was a very large cat, very much like a striped tabby cat with very pronounced rings around its bushy tail, and pointed ears,” said Mr Jowett. “I watched it for about four or five minutes, it looked at me, panicked and went off.” Mr Jowett said he was surprised by his encounter with the fawn-coloured creature as wildcats in the UK are usually found north of the border.

“From information on the Internet, it would appear to be a wildcat but they are not supposed to be anywhere other then remote parts of Scotland,” he added. “I was very surprised. It was strange - we have chickens, which I checked the following day but they hadn’t been disturbed.”
David Harpley, senior conservation officer at Cumbria Wildlife Trust, said the animal might have been a large domestic cat. He also suggested it could be an otter, which people do not often see on dry land. “There are a number of theories about what these things are - one is that they are big cats living free, but it seems a bit unlikely,” said Mr Harpley. “The other is that people are probably not used to seeing male otters, particularly male otters, on dry land. “Otters move across dry land in order to get from one water course to another. It’s a big animal and people might confuse these, potentially, with big cats.”

Mr Harpley added that a large puma-type cat would measure about four or five feet long.
“I would guess this was a large domestic cat.

As January progressed, another big cat sighting from the area was reported…

Angela Jones and Eve Grayson, who say they saw South Lakeland's mystery big cat

Two terrified runners have spoken of their face-to-face encounter with South Lakeland’s mysterious big ‘black cat’. The latest sighting was reported by Angela Jones and Eve Grayson, whose evening jog on Scout Scar was dramatically interrupted at around 6.30pm last Wednesday. They have vowed never to venture up to the popular beauty spot in darkness again after coming across what they said was ‘definitely’ a big cat.

It follows years of apparent sightings of the curious creature in Kendal, Levens, Natland, Witherslack and in the Winster Valley.

The jogging duo, who both live in Kendal, spotted the animal just four metres in front of them on the side of a path. Angela said the animal was jet black, the same size as a Labrador, had long legs, a tail and was staring straight at them. “We stopped, shone our head torches towards it to get a better look and saw two orange eyes and the outline of a large feline animal,” said Angela “It was definitely a big cat.”

As they moved towards the beast, Eve, a student, reported that its tail moved and ‘bristled’, similar to a cat’s when it is angry. But fear quickly set in and they decided to run in the opposite direction. Angela, who works for Cumbria County Council, said it was an ‘amazing experience’ but also ‘a bit frightening’.

“We were terrified because it was dark and we didn’t know what it was going to do, or whether it was going to follow us. It is not something you expect to see in this country – and not so close.”
Later that night, they turned to the internet to try to establish what they had seen.
Angela – who said she had never taken previous big cat sightings seriously – was surprised by the number of reports locally.

Word of their brush with the mystery moggy has been met with scepticism by some, but Angela and Eve are adamant about what they saw.

“People still don’t believe it but we know what we saw,” said Angela. “They say: ‘Are you sure it wasn’t a cow or a sheep’ – we were close enough to see that it wasn’t.

“It’s almost like we want to see it again to get a picture to prove it to people.”

And so it continues!…When will the government finally come clean over big cats?. How many more reliable, daylight sightings must there be, before the true emerges, and we all know , once and for all, that these beautiful creatures really do roam our English countryside!…

CHRIS CLARK IS IN TAHITI..

2012-02-01T05:29:00.000-08:00

Jon

So why shouldn't Tahiti have a monster just like everywhere else?

Chris

HARD DRIVES FOR TIBET

2012-02-01T05:28:00.000-08:00

I thought you might be interested in an URGENT appeal I’m running for the Meridian Trust, which could benefit 56,000 Tibetans living in exile.

We need just x40 hard drives. Can you help by providing one?

That old spare hard drive, abandoned in the corner of your desk space would give several thousand Tibetans, lay and monastic, direct access to their heritage and in doing so would enable us to fulfil H.H. Dalai Lama’s request for his people.

In the 1980′s, at the urgent request of H.H. the Dalai Lama the Meridian Trust began to film many of the old teachers who escaped from Tibet before they passed away. This original filming initiative came to be known as the Lama Project; a total of 600 hours of unique footage was recorded.

To learn more about the Project go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MciTeg3r548
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=xcNtoNeR228

Meridian Trust has digitized and encoded these 600 hours of unique Buddhist teachings so that they fit onto a 120GB (or larger) portable hard drive. In March this year around 40 representatives from the major monasteries of India and Nepal are meeting at Sarnath University, India, making this the ideal opportunity to give each monastery a copy of the Lama Project on hard drive.

You can help by:

Donating any spare120gb hard drives? (Using our FREEPOST address).
Sponsoring a monastery by buying hard drive using our Amazon Wish List: http://www.amazon.co.uk/registry/wishlist/1MWXVQCQQ62OJ
Making a donation to The Meridian Trust via PayPal our account address is: admin@meridian-trust.org
DONATE ONLINE via our website: http://meridian-trust.org/wp/?page_id=101

While the Tibetans have had so much of their culture and traditions destroyed, the culmination of the Lama Project directly gives back something of what has been lost. We are sincerely grateful for any contributions you feel you can make towards helping us achieve our goal.

Anyone giving to this URGENT appeal before the end of February 2012 will receive a FREE CD of ‘Songs for Tibet’.

View the map of the network of Monasteries: http://www.tibetanknowledge.org/provisional/map.html

Monasteries that will benefit:
Ulan Bator: Gandan Monastery Library, Mongolian National Library
Ladakh: Lama Yuru Monastery
Himachal Pradesh: Drolma Ling Nunnery, Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, Menri Bon Monastic Centre, Thupten Dorjidak Institute, Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts, Tibetan Medical Institute
Dehra Dun: Bon Zamongyal Yungdrung Ling Monastery, Drikung Kagyu Institute, Mindroling Monastery, Ngor Monastery, Sakya College, Sakya Monastery
Kathmandu: Shechen Monastery, Thukche Choling Nunnery, Trangu Tashi Choling Monastery, Triten Norbutse Bonpo Education Centre
Sikkim: Dodrup Chen Monastery, Rumtek College, Sikkim Institute of Tibetology
Arunachal Pradesh: Gyuto Monastic University
Varanasi: Central Institute for Higher Tibetan Studies, CIHTS Medical Institute, Thrangu Vajra Vidhya Institute
Orissa: Dechen Choephel Ling Monastery
North Kanara: Drepung Gomang Monastic University, Drepung Loseling Monastic University, Ganden Shartse Monastic University, Ganden Jangtse Monastic University, Jangchub Choling Nunnery
Mysore:. Dekey Larsoe Computer Input Centre, Dzongkar Chode College, Gyumey Monastic University, Ngagyur Nyingma Monastery, Rabling Computer Input Centre, Sera Jey Monastic University, Sera Mey Monastic University

THANK YOU for any help you can offer!

Very best wishes,

Dolma Beresford
Director

HAUNTED SKIES: Daily Telegraph 6.2.59.

2012-02-01T04:25:00.000-08:00

http://hauntedskies.blogspot.com/2012/02/daily-telegraph-6259.html

OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today

2012-02-01T04:24:00.000-08:00

http://cryptozoologynews.blogspot.com/
On this day in 1653 the city of New Amsterdam, which later became New York, was incorporated (nothing too Fortean about that it just gives me an excuse to post a link to one of my favourite songs as the signoff vid today).

And now the news:

Land of the rising Sunfish
Get your garden ready for wildlife
Kerala biodiversity body stops export of rare goat...
A Vast Canadian Wilderness Poised for a Uranium Bo...
What Do Killer Whales Eat in the Arctic?
Scientists reveal how females store sperm for deca...
Marine study in Singapore digs up 100 species
Black squirrels could outnumber reds in England
Residents urged not to feed red kites in Chilterns...
Vets take action to save Poland's lynx

Even old New York was once New Amsterdam, why’d they change it I can’t say, people just liked it better that way:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ynuwcd8SAhE

CRYPTOZOOLOGY ONLINE: On The Track (Of Unknown Animals) Episode 54

2012-02-01T03:40:00.000-08:00

The latest episode of our monthly webTV show from the CFZ and CFZtv, bringing you news on our activities within cryptozoology and natural history as well as the latest cryptozoological, and monster hunting news from around the world.

This episode brings you:

CFZ in winter
The first snow and snow damage
Walking
The ditches of Huddisford
What happenned to the fallow deer
Animal crossing
Unseasonal flowers
Coloured frogs
Kennerland Cross
Moles
The Walland Farm trailcams
Walland Farm at night
Badgers/deer/rabbits/foxes
Are there still red squirrels in Devon?
Bigfoot in storage
The Loch Lomond Monster
The cat who steals tobacco
Corinna looks at out of place birds
New and Rediscovered: Rediscovered monkey
New and Rediscovered: New lemur
New and Rediscovered: New tiny frogs

HIT PARADE FOR JANUARY (CFZ PRESS/FORTEAN WORDS)

2012-02-01T01:46:00.000-08:00

UK

1. Dead of Night by Lee Walker (-)
2. Grave Concerns by Kai Roberts (-)
3. Haunted Skies Volume Three by John Hanson and Dawn Holloway (3)
4. Haunted Skies Volume One by John Hanson and Dawn Holloway (-)
5. The Great Yokai Encyclopaedia by Richard Freeman (2)
6. Weird Waters by Lars Thomas (-)
7=. Dark Ness by Tabitca Cope (-)
7=. The Owlman and Others by Jonathan Downes (-)
7=. Dragons: More than a myth by Richard Freeman (-)
7=. Monster by Neil Arnold (-)

1. Monsters of Texas by Ken Gerhard and Nick Redfern (6)
2. The Inhumanoids by Barton Nunnelly (5)
3. The Great Yokai Encyclopaedia by Richard Freeman (2)
4. Orang-pendek: Sumatra's forgotten ape by Richard Freeman (6)
5=. Haunted Skies Volume Three by John Hanson and Dawn Holloway (3)
5=. Tetrapod Zoology by Darren Naish (7)
5=. Big Cats loose in Britain by Marcus Matthews (8)
8=. The Owlman and Others by Jonathan Downes (-)
8=. The Smaller Mystery Carnivores of the Westcountry by Jonathan Downes (-)
8=. Extraordinary Animals Revisited by Karl Shuker (-)

Last month's positions in this pinky colour, which I think is called cerise. This was the best January yet saleswise and certainly nothing even for Jon at his grumpiest to grumble about.
A particular 'well done' to Kai Roberts and Tabitca Cope with their first books, and to Lee Walker who has been hitting the promotional trail up in Merseyside.

KARL SHUKER: WHITE LIONS AND WHITE TIGERS - SEEKING A GENETIC EXPLANATION

2012-02-01T01:45:00.000-08:00

Native South African legends have long told of magical, elusive white lions inhabiting the Kruger National Park and the neighbouring Transvaal, but with no confirmed sightings by scientists, these leonine phantoms were not taken seriously by the zoological world – until 1977, that is, when zoologist Chris McBride announced to stunned press reporters across the globe that for the past two years, on a private game reserve called Timbavati adjacent to the Kruger, he had been studying and protecting three blue-eyed, snowy-white lions. Read on...

CFZ PEOPLE: Various blog updates (four to be precise) from Dale Drinnon. This man is becomming unstoppable

2012-02-01T01:35:00.000-08:00

New on Frontiers of Zoology:
http://frontiersofzoology.blogspot.com/2012/01/neolithic-neanderthals.html

New on Frontiers of Anthropology:
http://frontiers-of-anthropology.blogspot.com/2012/01/arkaim-from-polish-website.html

http://frontiers-of-anthropology.blogspot.com/2012/01/arkaim-russias-ancient-city-arctic.html

New on Cedar and Willow:
http://cedar-and-willow.blogspot.com/2012/01/cedars-sedan-1930s-style.html

Spiderwebs in Pakistani trees after 2010 floods

2012-01-31T09:57:00.000-08:00

An unexpected side-effect of the flooding in parts of Pakistan has been that millions of spiders climbed up into the trees to escape the rising flood waters.

WATCHER OF THE SKIES: Red kites, wildlife crime, spring is coming

2012-01-31T04:50:00.000-08:00

Image: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Milvus_milvus_(portrait).jpg

Nik Shelton, an RSPB official, said: "We have been inundated with letters over the past few weeks from homeowners who have got used to seeing house birds in their gardens over our recent harsh winters but who are perplexed by their absence this year."

He added: "House birds like the blue tit or the chaffinch eat seeds or insects, which are easy to find in the countryside when the weather is mild, as it has been for this winter so far. When the conditions get tough, when the ground becomes hard and frosty, it is difficult to get at insects or pick up seeds. Food becomes scarce, so the birds head into towns and cities in search of sustenance. That is what happened last year and the year before when we had very hard winters. But not this year. Our blue tits and chaffinches are perfectly happy in the countryside at the moment."

Find out more about how the mild weather conditions have confused our native birds: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/jan/22/birds-gardens-rspb-winter

Isle of Wight – protected bird shot – man charged
John Winn Roberts (43) of Strabane in Northern Ireland was due to appear in court after allegedly shooting a buzzard in Newport on the Isle of Wight, on 26th November last year. Police arrested him on the same day and are grateful for the support and assistance of the RSPCA's Isle of Wight Inspector Mark Buggie, and the management of aggregates / construction material supply business Bardon Vectis, which runs the quarry where the alleged offence took place.

The buzzard is fully protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which makes it an offence to kill, injure or take a buzzard, or to take, damage or destroy an active nest or its contents.

More at: http://www.iwradio.co.uk/news/iw-radio-news/man-charged-with-shooting-protected-bird-3362/

Spring is coming – help birds find their ideal home
Small, one bedroomed apartment. Available immediately. Lovely views. In need of some improvements. North/east facing. No immediate neighbours. Quiet area.
To a bird searching out its nesting requirements the above could well be a sought after commodity. It is the time of year that birds are beginning to do some early checking on prospective nesting sites to put their claim on a patch. If they like what they see, they will tap around the holes and inside the nest box as a visual and audible sign to others that the box is taken. They are then most likely to disappear to prepare themselves for the coming breeding season, although their disappearance to us humans may lead some of us to assume it is because the entrance may be too small, or some such thing. The RSPB says many birds will be organising themselves into a spot of spring cleaning by tidying up last year’s boxes and getting rid of debris left from the previous occupation.

It is time for anyone who has a nesting box to put it up while the birds are “still browsing”. “It is important to site them correctly, though; a nest box in the wrong place could mean birds suffer harshly in the heat,” explained Val Osborne, RSPB wildlife adviser.

“Unless there are trees or buildings which shade the box during the day, they need to be facing between north and east to protect them from overheating in strong summer sunshine. It will also shelter them from wetter south westerly winds.”

Find out more by visiting: www.rspb.org.uk/advice
http://www.southportvisiter.co.uk/southport-news/southport-southport-news/2012/01/19/help-birds-to-find-a-nest-box-in-time-for-spring-101022-30148482/

Wildfowlers up in arms about ban on shooting
Bagging a bird for the cooking pot is an old country tradition followed by many a wildfowl shooter in Scotland, but after acquiring land on the Solway Firth coast, the RSPB Scotland has plans to ban such ‘sport’. In 2010 it bought a large area of saltmarsh and floodplain at the Crook of Baldoon on Wigtown Bay and are urging the local council to introduce bylaws to ban shooting along 75% of the coastline.

However, it is claimed by wildfowlers that “because a £200,000 grant from Scottish Natural Heritage went towards the cost of buying and developing the land, the charity is using “public money to take away public rights”.”

Events and training officer for the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC) Scotland, Donald Muir, said: “We are working with wildfowling clubs around Wigtown Bay to ensure that one of the best wildfowling areas continues to be available to local and visiting shooters.

“When the RSPB bought the land with a £200,000 grant from SNH, they knew that wildfowling took place on the adjacent foreshore, that this was a public right and that it was an important source of income to local hotels and bed and breakfast businesses during the winter months.”
However it would appear that the local council, Dumfries and Galloway, is moving away from regulated wildfowling in favour of the RSPB’s “no shooting” option.

An RSPB spokesperson said the foreshore at Crook of Baldoon is a very small part of Wigtown Bay and there were already “extensive” shooting rights for wildfowlers elsewhere. The charity expected their plan would increase wildfowl numbers in the area.

The spokesperson added: “Whilst it is correct that the development of the nature reserve has been supported in part by SNH funding, we expect the significant financial investment in the proposed nature reserve at Crook of Baldoon to contribute over time to the local Galloway economy, as part of a wider network of wildlife attractions, which are already a major tourism draw to the area. The wildfowlers on Wigtown Bay have also created an area of wildlife habitat for which they received similar SNH grant aid.

“We take no issue with this use of public funding, which we accept as improving habitat conditions for local wildfowl populations, as we are also seeking to do at Crook of Baldoon.”
http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/heritage/people/shooters_up_in_arms_as_rspb_impose_ban_on_wildfowling_1_2070855

HAUNTED SKIES: Daily Express 28.4.59.

2012-01-31T04:30:00.000-08:00

http://hauntedskies.blogspot.com/2012/02/daily-express-28459.html

OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today

2012-01-31T04:29:00.000-08:00

http://cryptozoologynews.blogspot.com/

On this day in 1865 Abraham Lincoln (the president of the United States of America) signed the 13th amendment to the United States Constitution, which made it illegal to keep slaves across the whole of the country. Slavery had been abolished in the UK in 1833.

And now the news:

Georgia allows hunting of endangered species
Trail bikers find suspected tasmanian tiger skull
Peru's vanishing fish stocks 'devastated' by corru...
World Society for the Protection of Animals team u...
Prince of Wales launches fight to save overexploit...
Bats occupy Israeli army ghost bunkers
Bears ‘commit suicide’ to escape horror of gall bi...

Did you know that as well as freeing the slaves Abraham Lincoln also hunted vampires:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X58RPS665V0

TIM BINNALL INTERVIEWS ADAM DAVIES

2012-01-31T04:14:00.001-08:00

http://binnallofamerica.com/boaa012412.html

CRYPTOZOOLOGY: On the bonny bonny banks of...

2012-01-30T18:37:00.000-08:00

Many thanks to Steve Roskin who sent us the Google Earth co-ordinates from where we pinched this picture.

The co-ordinates are 56.246569,-4.701698 and the image is slap bang in the middle of Loch Lomond, a place that has notched up a few anomalous creature sightings over the years.

We seem to remember that a similar image was found recently at Loch Ness. Was a convincing explanation ever published?

Watch this space.

I DON'T THINK I HAVE EVER SEEN SUCH A PINK DOLPHIN

2012-01-30T09:44:00.000-08:00

http://news.yahoo.com/photos/chinese-white-dolphin-listed-near-threatened-international-union-photo-110435263.html;_ylt=AqFprG4eohoi2UWfT0Mv1Cdol88F;_ylu=X3oDMTMyMjhwbTJkBG1pdANBcnRpY2xlIFJlbGF0ZWQgSUIEcGtnA2UxMmRiNjNhLWU3ZjktMzNkZi1iY2EwLTU1NjM3NWNhOWE0OQRwb3MDMgRzZWMDTWVkaWFJbmZpbml0ZUJyb3dzZQR2ZXID;_ylg=X3oDMTM2NmkwajFnBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDNzk4OTZlMGMtYzIxNy0zZjAxLTljMmUtMzU2ODU4YTJjYjFiBHBzdGNhdANzY2llbmNlfGdyZWVuBHB0A3N0b3J5cGFnZQR0ZXN0Aw--;_ylv=3

ANDREW MAY: Words from the Wild Frontier

2012-01-30T05:31:00.000-08:00

News and stories from the remoter fringes of the CFZ blogosphere...

From Nick Redfern's "There's Something in the Woods...":

Mothman's 10th — It's ten years since The Mothman Prophecies hit the big screen...

From CFZ Australia:

OOPA: Wallaby carnage in Woodchester UK — Is a big cat killing English wallabies?

From CFZ Canada:

What Lies Within — Ancient marine arthropod discovered in Ontario Museum...

DALE DRINNON: Baby bigfoot and mysterious mummies

2012-01-30T05:19:00.006-08:00

New at The Frontiers of Zoology:
http://frontiersofzoology.blogspot.com/2012/01/baby-bigfoot-reprise.html

And at the Frontiers of Anthropology:
http://frontiers-of-anthropology.blogspot.com/2012/01/pedro-pygmy-mummy-of-casper-wyoming.html

Two cases that should have been easily disposed of right from the start, but which keep coming back to haunt us instead.
Best Wishes, Dale D.

HAUNTED SKIES: Times (The) 10.4.58

2012-01-30T05:19:00.005-08:00

http://hauntedskies.blogspot.com/2012/01/times-10458.html

OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today

2012-01-30T05:19:00.003-08:00

http://cryptozoologynews.blogspot.com/

Today is National Gorilla Suit Day when the great and good all wear gorilla suits (no, really it is -look it up on Wikipedia).

And now the news:

Seeing green helps spiders perfect jump
Snow Leopard Discovery In Tajikistan Shows Need Fo...
Birds Invade Town: La Grange, Ky. Swarmed By Black...
Lucas and Juno: Special bond of a rescue dog and d...
Man's best friend for 30,000 years: Canine skulls ...
Article: If You Spot Bigfoot, Should You Shoot Him...
Cold-stunned turtles washing ashore (via Herp Dige...
Turtle Rules Limit Harvest (via Herp Digest)
Animal rights activists hopping mad over kits (via...

There’s something in the air tonight:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnzFRV1LwIo

DALE DRINNON: New blog posting featuring "Patty", the star of the Patterson-Gimlin film

2012-01-30T05:17:00.000-08:00

New blog posting featuring "Patty", the star of the Patterson-Gimlin film:
http://frontiersofzoology.blogspot.com/2012/01/biped-zoo-gorilla-throws-light-on.html

DALE DRINNON: Mayan Monkeys, Mexican Wildmen, and Early Scottish Settlement

2012-01-30T05:13:00.000-08:00

New on Frontiers of Anthropology:
http://frontiers-of-anthropology.blogspot.com/2012/01/early-scotland-settlement-boat-houses.html

New on Frontiers of Zoology:
http://frontiersofzoology.blogspot.com/2012/01/more-mayan-monkeys-apes.html
http://frontiersofzoology.blogspot.com/2012/01/more-on-mexican-wildmen.html

CFZ CANADA: Mysteries in Museums

2012-01-30T04:30:00.000-08:00

Very regularly, interesting artifacts of long gone animals are being rediscovered across the globe-hiding in the fossil collections of ourmuseums. Back in 2009, scientists (specifically paleontologists) documented a “new”animal hiding in storage at the ROM, Canada’s Royal Ontario Museum.

Read on...

MUIRHEAD`S MYSTERIES:STRANGE CREATURE CHEUNG CHAU BEACH,HONG KONG,2011

2012-01-30T01:43:00.000-08:00

I found this link on a blog site of a couple who I think were travelling around S.E Asia, including Hong Kong, last autumn. This link showed a strange, thin, greyish “fish” (?) which looked odd to me. I tried to post a question about it on the blog, but I don`t know if it was received.

http://www.lostoverseas.com/carolines-photography/hong-kong-photos/

CHICK-CHICK-CHICK-CHICK-CHICKEN.....

2012-01-29T16:32:00.001-08:00

Source:LiveScience

Cold snap takes ladybirds by surprise

2012-01-29T09:19:00.000-08:00

http://www.newstoday.co.uk/4538/2012/01/cold-snap-takes-ladybirds-by-surprise/

HAUNTED SKIES:Daily Telegraph 30.6.58

2012-01-29T03:28:00.001-08:00

http://hauntedskies.blogspot.com/2012/01/daily-telegraph-30658.html

OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today

2012-01-29T03:26:00.000-08:00

http://cryptozoologynews.blogspot.com/

On this day in 1661 Oliver Cromwell was dug up and “executed” two years after his death.

And now the news:

Why is the land of snakes, so inept at dealing wit...
In Bucks County, volunteers await duty as salamand...
Monitor lizards heading for extinction in Malacca ...
Tiny Crooners: Male House Mice Sing Songs to Impre...
Protesters take on bird charity over plans for vil...
Rattlesnake roundup in Georgia now a humane wildli...
New 40,000 square mile haven for Pacific’s leather...

The Civil War told through the medium of song and dance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4b0G_auKCI

CFZ PEOPLE: Duane Beers 1986-2012

2012-01-29T02:31:00.000-08:00

Our heartfelt good wishes, commiserations and love go out to the friends and family of Duane Beers, Richard Freeman's half-brother who died on Friday.

DALE DRINNON: Chupacabras, trepanned skulls and uralics

2012-01-28T19:00:00.000-08:00

New from the Frontiers of Zoology, I tracked down a long-overdue original source and including a reference to chupacabras from the mid-1940s:

http://frontiersofzoology.blogspot.com/2012/01/honduras-chupacabras-folklore-page-i.html

Plus a couple of new articles on the Frontiers of Anthropology:

http://frontiers-of-anthropology.blogspot.com/2012/01/more-skulls-trepanned-indus-mayan.html

http://frontiers-of-anthropology.blogspot.com/2012/01/more-on-uralics-part-4-little-people.html

Something of interest in there for everybody, I should think!
Best Wishes, Dale D.

PLEASE TELL ME THAT THIS IS A JOKE.....(pleasse)

2012-01-28T18:19:00.000-08:00

http://objectiveministries.org/creation/projectpterosaur.html

CALLING ARTISTS WITH A TOUCH OF VINTAGE DERRING DO!

2012-01-28T18:08:00.000-08:00

The CFZ, or rather CFZ Press, are on the want. We know that there are a whole slew of talented artists out there, and that quite a few of you read the CFZ Bloggo network. But what we don't know is this...

...is there anyone out there who could work on some book covers for us? We want someone to do pastiches of classic boy's adventure book jackets, especially the ones for authors such as Roger Lanclyn Green in the halcyon days pre-1960.

Please email me on jon@cfz.org.uk

RICHARD MUIRHEAD: Winged Cat

2012-01-28T06:22:00.000-08:00

Here is a poem I wrote a while ago called Winged Cat.

WINGED CAT

Winged cats are not a product of too much LSD,
They really do exist, a rare skin disorder,extending
the fur, fortunately not occuring in humans (I think.)
When was the last time you reported
a woman or man with wide flesh flaps coming
out of his arms walking down your
high street like Bat-Man
(or should that be Cat-Man?)
at midnight?
Or do you fancy a twelve month stint
locked up in an asylum?

HAUNTED SKIES: Daily Telegraph 24.1.58

2012-01-28T05:07:00.001-08:00

http://hauntedskies.blogspot.com/2012/01/daily-telegraph-24158.html

OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today

2012-01-28T05:06:00.000-08:00

http://cryptozoologynews.blogspot.com/

On this day in 1845 the Edgar Alan Poe poem “The Raven” was first published.

And now the news:

Bournemouth resident mystified by 'blue sphere sho...
Fungi-filled forests are critical for endangered o...
For the Birds: Winged Predators Seek Certain Trees...
Ecologists Capture First Deep-Sea Fish Noises
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds… and...
Expert: kill more seals in Stockholm's waters
British tourist killed in bee attack
Humpback whales off Aberdeen for 2 weeks
New Witness Corroborates 2011 Sighting

Never-more:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27ZvwQd-wXw

MUIRHEAD`S MYSTERIES: AN IRISH WILDMAN AND AN ODD RHINOCEROS-LIKE CREATURE

2012-01-28T04:52:00.000-08:00

On Monday 23rd I was at the British Library's Newspaper Library to try and find more items of Hong Kong's cryptozoology. Unfortunately this was unsuccessful (except for the German article, see below). However, I did find two items of interest on databases I haven`t used before. Firstly, a story of an Irish wild man, on the 17th – 18th Burney Collection Newspapers: The London Journal dated July 16, 1720-July 23rd 1720 -

'We have a very odd Creature here, like a Man in Shape, but covered like a Bear; they tell us he came from Ireland, where he lived till he was Twenty Years old, and run wild in the Woods: All the Parts of his body are overgrown with long black Hair, which they having stiffened and rubed backwards makes him look very deliciously [sic-R] it seems, and the Women go in Shoals to see him. They shew him for Two-pence a Piece and an innumerable many Customers they have had but as they expose him no lower than his Waste, their Trade begins to fail them, and the Females Curiosity to abate.' (1)

Well, apart from the sociological interest of a human/wild man being exhibited, which we all know happened, there is the obvious cryptozoological question and identity with N. American wild men/mystery hominids, as in Bio Fortean Notes 2: as in the case of a `What-is-It` reported in the Galveston, Texas, Daily News of March 25 1888, with long black hair. I`m sure there are many other similar cases.

The Irish wild man is said to have come from Ireland but it is not clear to where; presumably London as that is where the paper was published.

The rhino (or what?) story was from the Johannesburg (?) Star in c. 1920 from the African Newspapers database. This is the story:

THE STRANGE ANIMAL IN THE CONGO - Hunter`s Interesting Statement.

Mr J.R. McClang writes to the “Star” – I was interested to read of the discovery of the strange animal encountered by an engineer while hunting in the Belgian Congo. The animal so described is similar to one I shot in one of the closed districts of Uganda, but smaller.

The following are the circumstances – I was travelling in the direction of the river Nile, in Uganda, in the year 1909, when I suddenly saw what I thought to be a rhino. Upon close examination I found this animal was not of the rhino species, but quite a strange animal I had never seen before. It was longer than the full grown rhino, and about the sameheight, but broader. This animal had two tusks, about 3 feet long, and a long horn between the nose and the top of the head at least 2 feet long and very thick. I was so astonished at seeing such an animal that I stood gazing at same, within 80 yards, for at least two minutes. I then aimed for the brain and shot. He must have got my scent and swerved his head. I lowered my rifle for the heart shot, fired, and got him in the lung. This I could tell by the thick blood he left in his track. His spoor was similar to an elephant`s, but broader. I followed up his track`s and found him behind some bush on the banks of the Nile. I fired my heavy bore 577 – both barrels. Both bullets went through his spine and he rolled into the river. That`s the last I saw of him. My native trackers were old hands at the game, and I questioned them closely, but they were as astonished as myself, saying they never saw such an animal before.

When I was hunting in the Wamba Forest, now in the Belgian Congo, I had 300 pigmy natives with me and they were very keen on taking me deeper into the forest, where they said I could get the very big elephants with three tusks, and in my dealings with the little pigmies I found them very keen and the best of trackers and very truthful, but owing to fever I had to leave that part. I hope to be leaving by the end of next month upon a big game hunting expedition and I am going very deep into the marshy part of the great Congo forest as long as my health is good. (2)

1. The London Journal 16/7/1720-23/7/1720
2. Johannesburg Star c. 1920

I also found this reference in London: Notizen uber die Fauna Hong Kong`s und Schanghai`s by Geory von Frauenfeld – Sitzungsberichte der Mathematisch-naturwissenschaftlichen Classe der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften 35 (1859): 240-272 If or when I get a copy of this, is there anyone out there who can translate German into English?

Ta

WATCHER OF THE SKIES: Cuckoo special

2012-01-28T04:44:00.000-08:00

As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... about out of place birds, rare vagrants, and basically all things feathery and Fortean.

Because we live in strange times there are more and more bird stories that come her way so she has now moved onto the main CFZ bloggo with a new column with the same name as her aforementioned ones...

Tracking Cuckoos into Africa
The cuckoo is ‘red-listed’ due to it being one of the UK’s fastest declining migrants. It has always been one of those migrants whose travelling we knew least about. In 2011 the BTO attached satellite-tracking devices to five cuckoos in Norfolk so as to study their migratory habits and hopefully learn more about the cause of their decline. The project is funded by a partnership between the BBC Wildlife Fund, BTO members (through the 2010 Christmas raffle) and Essex & Suffolk Water.
Clement, Martin, Lyster, Kasper and Chris were caught during May and June last year and each of them have their own blog in which their progress to Africa has been monitored. If you have not done so already, you can catch up on this worthwhile and fascinating project by visiting, in the first instance, http://www.bto.org/science/migration/tracking-studies/cuckoo-tracking From there you will be able to link to various sections, including the individual cuckoo blogs.

GORDON RAMSAY SEX DWARF EATEN BY BADGER

2012-01-28T04:33:00.000-08:00

Back in the day, my editor the late Simon Wolstencroft and I used to play a game called 'Fantasy Journalism' during which we concocted unlikely headlines. He drank himself to death three years ago, but if we ever needed proof of a life after death, this is probably it. Over on the afterlife he must have had a hand in this preposterous (but true) headline.

http://arbroath.blogspot.com/2011/08/gordon-ramsay-sex-dwarf-eaten-by-badger.html

DALE DRINNON: Jadesquatch and crystal wildman skull

2012-01-28T04:32:00.000-08:00

I held this one back because it kept accumulating unbelievable amounts of garbage html. I had to keep cleaning it out and finally I decided to push it through while I had a decently clean version of the finished text:
http://frontiersofzoology.blogspot.com/2012/01/jadesquatch-and-crystal-wildman-skull.html

DALE DRINNON: Two New Articles Just Posted at the Frontiers of Anthropology

2012-01-28T04:31:00.000-08:00

Two New Articles Just Posted at the Frontiers of Anthropology.
The first is the last part on the Uralic peoples and Boreal culture, to which I have added several pertinent additions and to which I intend to add a followup Part 4 next time:
http://frontiers-of-anthropology.blogspot.com/2012/01/more-on-uralics-part-3.html

The Second article may, as Wikipedia states, represent either an unknown "Animal" (Apeman) or merely an undiscovered tribe. Ivan Sanderson called the Maricoxi a surviving Neanderthal type and Wikipedia applies the name to a number of similar beings from pygmy to gigantic stature:
http://frontiers-of-anthropology.blogspot.com/2012/01/ivan-sanderson-on-maricoxi.html

ANDREW MAY: Words from the Wild Frontier

2012-01-27T04:55:00.000-08:00

News and stories from the remoter fringes of the CFZ blogosphere...

From Nick Redfern's "There's Something in the Woods...":

Neil Reviews — Neil Arnold's film review of Boggy Creek...

From CFZ Australia:

Yowie footprints in the bush? — A solitary footprint in otherwise untouched bushland...
Zoos the urban arks of the future — Zoos Victoria makes a strategic shift towards conservation...

HAUNTED SKIES: Daily Telegraph 11.6.58

2012-01-27T04:30:00.002-08:00

http://hauntedskies.blogspot.com/2012/01/daily-telegraph-11658.html

OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today

2012-01-27T04:30:00.001-08:00

http://cryptozoologynews.blogspot.com/

On this day in 1959 director Frank Darabont was born. Darabont is best known for his film adaptations of the works of Stephen King including The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile and The Mist.

And now the news:

Endangered Lesser Antillean Iguana breed at Durrel...
Nearly 90 different marine mammal species consumed...
99 whales stranded in New Zealand
Worst fish-kill in recent times off Guyana and Sur...
On-the-loose cat in the cockpit delays Air Canada ...
Neglected horse had half-metre-long hooves
VIDEO: Clever crows show remarkable ability to use...
British tourist killed in bee attack
Crayola Katydid & Cowboy Frog Among 46 Newfound Ju...
WEST LAKES ‘FACES BEING RUINED BY NUCLEAR DUMP’
Oldest dinosaur nursery found in South Africa
Leucistic impala on the Kruger

The trailer for Frank Darabont's “The Green Mile”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctRK-4Vt7dA

FRONTIERS OF ANTHROPOLOGY: Skull Fancy Magazine? Sounds a good idea to me...

2012-01-27T01:38:00.000-08:00

New on Frontiers of Anthropology:
http://frontiers-of-anthropology.blogspot.com/2012/01/more-on-uralics-part-2.html

And
http://frontiers-of-anthropology.blogspot.com/2012/01/mayan-mandala.html

Another couple of special edition articles on Jade and Crystal Skulls on both blogs coming soon (I have often thought I should start a regular magazine called "Skull Fancy" or something like that)

DALE DRINNON: Neanderthal reconstruction

2012-01-27T01:37:00.000-08:00

I was having troubles with Blogger (still am as a matter of fact) but I was able to push through the next shorter piece from something Tyler Stone sent to me:
http://frontiersofzoology.blogspot.com/2012/01/neanderthal-reconstruction-via-tyler.html

CFZ PEOPLE: J.T.Downes

2012-01-26T09:55:00.000-08:00

My father would have been 87 today. Happy Birthday Dad

CFZ PEOPLE: Nick Wadham

2012-01-26T05:48:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday dude

WATCHER OF THE SKIES: Orioles, birdwatching and gamekeeper shame

2012-01-26T05:10:00.000-08:00

As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time, Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... about out of place birds, rare vagrants, and basically all things feathery and fortean.

Because we live in strange times, there are more and more bird stories that come her way, so she has now moved onto the main CFZ bloggo with a new column with the same name as her aforementioned ones...

2011 – Farmland bird survey – a record breaking year
The results of the annual survey carried out by the RSPB’s Volunteer and Farmer Alliance has called 2011 another eventful year. One farm in Lincolnshire set a new record with 85 species being spotted in one survey, and in another on the Devon coast one volunteer was lucky enough to spot a golden oriole - one of Britain’s rarest birds.

Richard Winspear, senior RSPB agriculture advisor, said: “It’s been a fantastic year for the Volunteer & Farmer Alliance with more and more farmers learning about the wildlife on their farms thanks to an army of dedicated amateur experts.

“These volunteers get up at the crack of dawn to carry out these surveys and do an amazing job. Every farmer gets a map of their farm showing where each species is breeding which they can use to plan conservation measures.

“It’s great to hear all the stories we get back from our volunteers which over the past year have included encounters with some rare and spectacular birds like golden eagle, quail and even a golden oriole.

“But the most heartening thing is to see the enthusiasm farmers show for the wildlife on their land. With vital information from surveys like these and the right advice and support through the agri-environment schemes, they can make a real difference for farmland birds.

“This is a very popular service and we get a lot of requests from farmers, so much so that in some areas we are oversubscribed. Farmers have benefitted from this free service for a number of years however it does require investment and in these austere times we are looking to see how we can continue to support it into the future.”

A more detailed report can be found at: http://www.rspb.org.uk/media/releases/302485-record-breaking-year-for-farmland-bird-survey

And for more information, to sign up for a survey, or to volunteer to carry out surveys, visit the Volunteer & Farmer Alliance webpage at www.rspb.org.uk/vandfa

Picture from Wikipedia

Beginners’ Birdwatching
If you would like to learn some more about birdwatching, the RSPB has organised a special free four day course in February in south Dorset. Each day will be held at different outdoor venues in Poole and Bournemouth.

Organiser of the event, Sarah-Jane Buckle, said: "This is a great opportunity for anyone who's always wanted to learn a bit more about our feathered friends. South Dorset is a brilliant place for birds and birdwatching, and we're really keen to get more people out and about and enjoying what there is to see.

"We've got some excellent venues for the event and I'm really looking forward to it. We'll provide everything to start off with, and you don't even have to have your own binoculars as we'll have some to borrow. And best of all its free - although donations are always welcome!".

For more details please contact Sarah-Jane Buckle on 07703607630 or visit:
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/Birdwatching-Beginners.html

Second gamekeeper convicted of poisoning offences in a week in Lanarkshire
A second Lanarkshire gamekeeper has been convicted of possessing Carbofuran, a highly toxic pesticide that was banned in 2001. Cyril McLachlan, 63 years old and with 40 years experience, was find £635 at Lanark Sheriff Court after admitting the offence. He was arrested during an operation by Strathclyde Police, the National Wildlife Crime Unit and the Scottish Government in January 2011, when a plastic bottle containing the illegal substance was discovered in his vehicle. McLachlan claimed to have got the chemical "off a friend".

Speaking after the sentencing Bob Elliot, Head of Investigations at RSPB Scotland, said: "This is the second court case in the space of a week involving poisoning in South Lanarkshire, which must be very worrying for local residents. Not only do these illegal chemicals kill birds and other wildlife but they have the potential to poison domestic pets and endanger any people that come into contact with them.

"It is depressing that despite this substance being banned for over ten years it turns up with monotonous regularity, used to lace baits indiscriminately which are then laid in the open in our countryside to kill protected wildlife."

On 5th January 2012 at Lanark Sheriff Court, former gamekeeper David Whitefield, of the nearby Culter Allers Estate, Coulter, South Lanarkshire was successfully prosecuted for poisoning offences.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/carbofuran-scotland.html

...and for those who don't know why 'The Watcher of the Skies':

GIANT CROC

2012-01-26T03:49:00.000-08:00

RICHARD FREEMAN WRITES: Sadly, this is forced perspective. If you look closely you will see that the people in the background are sitting on a wall with ground between them and the wall the crocodile is lying on. There is little close to the crocodile to indicate its length, but if the wall is the same hight as the one the people are sitting on in the background then it would seem that the croc is not remarkably large 14-15 feet; about average for an adult.

The Nile crocodile is the second larges living crocodile and just how big it gets is a matter of controversy. The largest known mesured between the pegs 21 feet 2 inches, suggesting that very large males could reach 23 feet or more. One such huge individual, named Gustave haunts Lake Tanganyika in Burundi. Wildlife Cameraman Cherry Kearton claimed to have filmed a specimen 27 feet long. Other claims have been made of crocodiles in the 23-26 foot range over the years. Though unproven they are far from impossible.

http://imgur.com/RYaZm

HAUNTED SKIES: Daily Telegraph 11.4.58.

2012-01-26T02:58:00.000-08:00

http://hauntedskies.blogspot.com/2012/01/daily-telegraph-11458.html

OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today

2012-01-26T02:50:00.000-08:00

http://cryptozoologynews.blogspot.com/

On this day in 1993 the professional wrestler Andre the Giant died. Andre was billed by Vince McMahon Sr. as the 8th Wonder of the World on account of his height, reputed to be around 2.30 M.

And now the news:

Cat Shot With Arrow: 'Cupid' Expected To Make Full...
Bees 'could deter vandals' at Greenfield heritage ...
Pythons and Anacondas banned from US import and tr...
Airport proposals 'catastrophic' for wildlife
Tiny alcohol amounts double worm's life
Russian scientist claims signs of life spotted on ...
85-year-old woman wields shovel to stop moose stom...

An interview showing just how tall Andre was:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZ82JLb84ms

DALE DRINNON: New on Frontiers of Zoology/Anthropology

2012-01-26T01:34:00.000-08:00

New on the Frontiers of Zoology, a brief piece of information on the Demon Ducks of Doom:
http://frontiersofzoology.blogspot.com/2012/01/devil-and-mr-waddles.html

Plus two rather longer articles on Frontiers of Anthropology, which I am afraid are going to lead to some more longer articles following. Not to worry, I shall probably intersperse them with smaller articles yet to come on the blog also:

http://frontiers-of-anthropology.blogspot.com/2012/01/some-largescale-migrations-into-new_25.html

http://frontiers-of-anthropology.blogspot.com/2012/01/more-on-uralics-part-1.html

SHUKERNATURE: Karl Shuker vs the purple cow...

2012-01-26T01:11:00.000-08:00

One of the shortest but most famous of all nonsense poems is 'The Purple Cow', penned by American author Gelett Burgess (1866-1951). It originally appeared in the first issue of The Lark, a magazine published in 1895 that was co-edited and (at least initially) largely written by Burgess.

Read on...

AFGHAN MYSTERY CAT REDUX

2012-01-25T09:36:00.000-08:00

There have been a lot of suggestions about the identity of the Afghan mystery cat which we posted about the other day (see comments section of original post). So far it has been suggested that it is a snow leopard, a jungle cat and a sand cat.

Raheel Mughal writes:

Hi Jon,

How are you? Just to let you know, I was surfing the CFZ website today when I came across a blogpost concerning an Afghan Mystery Cat. I did some research on cats belonging to the (Felidae) family and I believe (taking into account - region, size and physical descriptions), that the cat portrayed in the picture is none other than a Jungle Cat (Felis chaus), also known as the Reed or Swamp Cat.

The Jungle Cat hunts around marshes and riverbanks - often near human habitations. It has an unpatterned coat varying from yellow to a tawny colour, and its tail has black rings and a black tip. its common in Africa and Asia and is approximately 50 - 94 cm (20-37 inches) in length and it weighs approximately 4-16 kg or (8.75 - 35 lb). This cat also nests in abandoned borrows and is active both by day and night.

I hope that you will mention my research above on the CFZ website. Thank you.
Best wishes to you and the CFZ family. Speak to you soon. Take care of yourself and the family.

Your Friend,

Raheel

JON'S JOURNAL: Murder most foul (or should that be murder most frog?)

2012-01-25T09:02:00.001-08:00

Yesterday afternoon, Prudence took Richard, Corinna and me out to Huddisford for another walk, and we walked along one of the areas next to the little stream we explored the other day.

We were running a bit late in the day, and therefore the light was not all that it could have been by the time that we arrived, and Richard managed to get Prudence out of the car (not an easy task at the best of times).

We walked through an area which - back when I first came back to Woolsery in 2005 - had been a thickly planted conifer plantation. It had been cut, and subsequently replanted about three years ago, and as you can see the young pine trees are making fairly good progress; there isn't any effective scale of reference in the photograph, but I am 6 foot 7, and they reached about a third of the way up me, or double the height of Prudence.

We walked a fair way and as Prudence bumbled her way through the undergrowth she put up several birds including something which I think was a skylark.

A couple of days back I told the sad story:

"We used to have a pond at the bottom of the garden and every spring the garden frogs spawned there.

When my brother and his wife had children my parents had the pond filled in lest the little ones would fall in and do themself a mischief. But the frogs didn't seem to realise and every spring for the next few years they would lay their eggs on the lawn where the pond used to be, even though there was no water.

My mother used to collect the spawn in a bucket and take it up to a friend's pond to release it, so all ended well. That was in 1997/8 and that particular generation of frogs must have lived out their alloted span (or learned their lesson) because by the time we came here in 2005 it didn't happen anymore."

Just by one of the two ditches that feed the aforementioned stream we found some frogspawn on the ground and I thought that we had another case of a similar scenario ...except that here there had NEVER been a pond on the path where the spawn lay.

Then on the way back to the car Richard noticed the froggy entrails lying on the ground amidst the spawn. This was obviourly a tale of batrachian trajedy, when a gravid female was on her way to spawn when a bird of prey, or perhaps a small carnivore had waylaid her.

One good side effect of the mild winter (at least as far as I am concerned) is that it is giving a chance for my Carpobrotus edulis or succulent mesembryanthemum to grow larger. I planted it back in 2006, and it started flowering last year, but the heavy winters have done quite a lot of damage to it, and I think that this mild one will finally give it a chance to get established.

It is originally a South African species, but has become naturalised at several locations in the westcountry (most notably at Baggy Point, which is where I first saw it in 1971, and I assume it is still there).

I am very fond of succulents and am slowly building up a collection..

NEIL ARNOLD: Film Review: Boggy Creek (2011)

2012-01-25T06:11:00.000-08:00

I’ve often been of the opinion that any film that ranges from being half-decent to a classic should never…ever, be remade. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a good remake, and personally don’t think they’re necessary. So, when I heard that my all time favourite movie, The Legend Of Boggy Creek, was to be loosely remade, my heart sank with despair. The original movie – directed by Charles B’ Pierce in the 1970s – changed my life. It terrified me as a kid, and in its eerie suggestion allowed the mind to fill in the blanks. More importantly, the film really put the Bigfoot legend on the map, especially as it played like a docu-drama – presenting the creature as a half-hinted presence amidst the accounts told by actual witnesses. If I’d never seen The Legend Of Boggy Creek as a child, I would never have become a writer let alone a monster-hunter.

Now, let’s fast forward to 2011, and some guy named Brian T. Jaynes has somehow put together his pocket money to ‘make’ Boggy Creek, featuring a cast of all stars including the delightfully named Texas Battle, alongside Stephanie Honore, Melissa Carnell, Damon Lipari and Shavon Kirksey. Sadly, by the time the opening credits are on the screen, we find ourselves, like in so many, usually American remakes, that we don’t actually care who’s in the movie…or if they die. I’m guessing that the alternative title, Attractive Young Woman In Tight Shorts Who Likes Running (But Has Parental Issues) And Goes Camping With An Assortment Of Scantily Clad Females Who In Turn Introduce Us To A Myriad Of Goofball Hunks…Oh, And A Marauding Bigfoot, just didn’t have the same ring to it. Within seconds of watching this movie I almost choked on my Bigfoot burger…how on earth can people be allowed to make films as bad in this day and age ? It’s an insult to the intelligence of even primitive man and anyone who finds something good in this movie deserves the same punishment as those pea-brained actors… disembowelment by Mr Sasquatch.

It’s not a huge surprise that this movie went straight to dvd, but the fact it was able to incorporate the Boggy Creek name into its title is a disgrace. So, “what’s it about ?” I hear you ask ? Well, I think my alternative title pretty much sums up this shambolic film. Mutilated victims are turning up in the backwoods of Boggy Creek (although we only see a few – mainly at night of course!), but who cares when we’ve suddenly got three airhead femme fatale’s in hot pants! It’s your typical US flick, the type that has been bombarding our television, and somehow cinema screens since the ‘90s – taking the halcyon days of the ‘70s and ‘80s slasher flick to vomit-induced levels of trash. There are the three rather attractive girls, who have the combined IQ of Bigfoot excrement, completely bereft of character, except the blonde who likes jogging – and then we meet the hunk in the woods who has Bigfoot issues (apparently his wife was dragged off into the woods by a horny Bigfoot “many years ago”) as well as the two other ‘dudes’ aka, planks of wood, who eventually succumb to the grubby hands of the hairy one. And that’s it. Like so many countless other mundane, dire, appalling, mainly US movies, it’s about a camping trip into the heart of the forest where rumour has it some type of wild-man likes to chew on the bones of men but give the bone to women….but the major problem is – amongst so many other problems – no-one can act, and within five minutes I feel like I’m watching a porn film minus the sex scenes!

Badly filmed, badly acted, badly scripted, bad special effects – pretty much sums up a majority of modern horror films. However, the worse thing about all this is the fact that I’m pretty sure that out there, somewhere, there are people struggling to get their decent films made, and yet diarrhoea like this ambles into the dvd player, tarnishes the legend of Pierce's masterpiece, then disappears down the toilet. 80 or so minutes of garbage is how I’d sum this movie up. Avoid like the plague, and shoot all those involved.

0/10

NEWLY DESCRIBED BREEDS OF DOG

2012-01-25T05:47:00.000-08:00

Because I have a wide and rich range of interests I get sent all sorts of interesting links each day. I was particularly interested in this article on new breeds of dog...

http://caninebreeds.bulldoginformation.com/new-experimental-and-recreated-dog-breeds.html#Newly-recognized-breeds

HAUNTED SKIES: Daily Mail 28.1.58

2012-01-25T05:27:00.001-08:00

http://hauntedskies.blogspot.com/2012/01/daily-mail-28158.html

OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today

2012-01-25T05:26:00.001-08:00

http://cryptozoologynews.blogspot.com/

On this day in 1905 the Cullinan Diamond was discovered In South Africa. Until the discovery of the Golden Jubilee Diamond the Cullinan Diamond was the largest pure diamond ever discovered and, according to unsubstantiated rumours, it was part of a much larger diamond. The 9 parts of the cut diamond are now part of the British Crown Jewels, the largest diamond of which is known as the Star of Africa and is set in the Sceptre of The Cross, which is held in the monarch’s right hand during coronations.

And now the news:

Miami Roofers Discover Massive Bat Colony In One R...
Rare Chinese white dolphin gets DNA bank
Sumatran elephant upgraded to critically endangere...
Migrating Somerset eels tracked by camera
Why Some Animals Are Fatter Than Others
Bid to save wildcats from amorous cousins
GAMEKEEPERS URGE GOVT TO EXPLORE TAYSIDE BEAVER PR...

Brits don’t get overly patriotic very often as it is considered ‘vulgar’ and 'common' but we have our moments, such as coronations where we out-do everyone else, with the possible exception of North Korea (you can try spotting the Star of Africa in this clip if such things excite and amuse you) :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkWtA4-34VE

DALE DRINNON: The Year of The Dragon

2012-01-25T05:22:00.000-08:00

My own contribution to the Chinese New Year, only slightly tardy:
http://frontiersofzoology.blogspot.com/2012/01/welcome-to-year-of-dragon.html

FRONTIERS OF ANTHROPOLOGY: Lemuria and Egypt

2012-01-25T05:21:00.001-08:00

Two New Articles on Frontiers of Anthropology:
http://frontiers-of-anthropology.blogspot.com/2012/01/cromagnons-in-egypt-at-15000-bc.html

and
http://frontiers-of-anthropology.blogspot.com/2012/01/tall-ships-of-lemuria.html

INAPPROPRIATE CORNER: The Rifles of the IRA

2012-01-25T02:01:00.000-08:00

When the legitimate media make cock ups on this scale, life is sweet:

Ofcom has ruled that ITV misled viewers by airing footage claimed to have been shot by the IRA, which was actually material taken from a video game.

A total of 26 people alerted the regulator, raising concerns over the footage broadcast in Exposure: Gaddafi and the IRA, in September.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-16677640

CFZ PEOPLE: Gavin Lloyd Wilson

2012-01-24T05:48:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday mate

WATCHER OF THE SKIES: Shrikes and Sparrows

2012-01-24T04:53:00.000-08:00

HAUNTED SKIES: Colonel Halt supports Haunted Skies!

2012-01-24T03:56:00.002-08:00

http://hauntedskies.blogspot.com/2012/01/colonel-halt-supports-haunted-skies.html

OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today

2012-01-24T03:56:00.001-08:00

http://cryptozoologynews.blogspot.com/

On this day in 2009 Director Kim Manners died. His name should be familiar to anyone who has been interested in tv dramas based on the paranormal as he was one of the directors of “The X-Files” and “Supernatural”.

And now the news:

New West Sussex home for 'endangered' water voles
Birds of a Feather Don't Always Stick Together
Wild dogs didn't go extinct in east Africa after a...
Extremely Rare Turtle Is Released Into the Wild
African mystery surrounds Welsh-born osprey
Kakapo death ends disappointing year
Bowerbird Bachelor Pads With Best Illusion Snag Ma...

Manners talks X-Files:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkDGYOCbMhY

FRONTIERS OF ANTHROPOLOGY: New evidence links Early Bronze Age Ireland to the Southeastern United States

2012-01-24T03:26:00.000-08:00

New evidence links Early Bronze Age Ireland to the Southeastern United States

http://frontiers-of-anthropology.blogspot.com/2012/01/more-support-for-bronze-age.html

CFZ CANADA: 新年快乐 (Happy New Year)

2012-01-24T03:18:00.000-08:00

January 23, 2012 begins theChinese `Year of the Dragon``. In the Chinese 12 year cycle of zodiac years, the dragon is the only animal that is legendary—allof the other icons are known, and rather benign, animals and birds. Additionally, this is the year of the WaterDragon.

Read on...

LIZ CLANCY: APOCALYPSE 1080p: Last Day of the World

2012-01-23T19:32:00.000-08:00

It's been a long time since my last post for the CFZ bloggo but I have several incredibly good excuses. One is that I'm currently working on a film project and would like to invite CFZ bloggo readers to get involved. And CFZ TV.

In Montreal, back in January 1999, a couple of friends made a simple bet between themselves: produce an original short film every month until the New Millennium and the End of the World. Twelve months later, these friends were disappointed to learn that the Apocalypse had been postponed, but they had kept their bet and 200 short films later, KINO was born!

http://www.planetekino.com/index.php?s=kino&lang=en

Twelve years later, as the year 2012 looms and the 'Mayan Doomsday' silly season appears set to strike with full force, we thought we’d commemorate KINO’s apocalyptic origins by posing ONE simple question:

IF the world is ending on 21st December 2012 (as doomsday theorists claim) how would YOU spend the world’s very Last Day?

Fulfilling your wildest ‘bucket list’ desires? Saying your last goodbyes? Getting plastered? Cowering inside your bomb shelter? Making passionate love?

Partially inspired by the Ridley Scott documentary ‘Life in a Day’ and Michael Jackson’s ‘Behind the Mask’ music video, Manchester Making Films Inspirational [MMFI] and SirClancelot Films are inviting Kino filmmakers worldwide to star in the ‘Apocalypse 1080p’ cinema project by sending us your most creative films showing how YOU plan to spend the Last Day of the World. The best footage will be used to create an amazing world-sourced, feature-length science fiction movie to be released in December 2012.

From something as basic as a 30-second mobile phone video clip of your last will and testament before the '2012 apocalypse' to the most elaborate 'countdown to Armageddon' flash mob, feel free to have all the fun in the world in creating your masterpieces.

WHAT WERE YOU DOING ON THE DAY THE WORLD ENDED?
Imagine it. Film it. Send it in.

Pull out all creative stops. Think outside the box. Let your creativity (and cameras) run wild and send us your most amazing 21/12 'bucket list' films!

Submissions may be filmed with mobile phone, camcorder, DSLR or any other means. They may be of any length and should strive for a minimum resolution of 1080p HD (though films of lesser resolution will be accepted).

Open a Free account and upload your films to Vimeo at:

http://vimeo.com/

Then send us the web link to your film (along with your full name, phone number and email address) via Facebook Message.

Alternatively, you can post your entries on CD or DVD to:

SirClancelot Films
88 Abbey Crescent
Heywood
Lancashire
OL10 4UG

(Remember to enclose your full name, phone number and email address. Submissions are non-returnable and may be re-edited as needed.)

Closing date for entries: 30 June 2012. Please disregard the 'Tuesday, March 20, 2012' closing date indicated at the top. (For some reason Facebook will not allow you to create an event that lasts for more than 4 months.)

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Could all participants refrain from adding any names, titles, dates or any other visual information to the films they submit. These will be added in post-production. Furthermore, in submitting material for this project you are doing so under the terms of the Creative Commons Public License.

MAKE THE LAST DAY OF THE WORLD COUNT FOR SOMETHING.
Imagine it. Film it. Send it in.

ANDREW MAY: Words from the Wild Frontier

2012-01-23T13:30:00.000-08:00

News and stories from the remoter fringes of the CFZ blogosphere....

From Nick Redfern's "There's Something in the Woods...":

Nessie: The Underwater Sightings — The Loch Ness Monster glimpsed in its natural habitat?

From CFZ Australia:

Thylacine hunting 'a waste of money' — That's the depressing conclusion of a new academic study...
A bunyip with bite — An upcoming micro-budget movie about Australia's favourite cryptid...

From CFZ Canada:

新年快乐 (Happy New Year) — All you need to know about dragons in the Year of the Dragon...

DALE DRINNON: The Russian "Snowman"

2012-01-23T08:32:00.000-08:00

Article on possible Russian "Snowman" and Folkloric connections: a Tartar Tickler
http://frontiersofzoology.blogspot.com/2012/01/shurale.html

BLOGGO: 8,000 Posts - haven't we done well!

2012-01-23T05:59:00.001-08:00

Will our RSPB: West Country birds fret that it’s been mild and wet?

2012-01-23T05:21:00.000-08:00

The RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch (28-29 January 2012) Over half a million people will be taking part in the world’s biggest wildlife survey this weekend, the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch (28-29 January). This winter has seen temperatures go from mild, to freezing, and back again, with ice, snow, wind rain thrown into the mix. And after two cold winters before it, the wildlife charity is eager to find out what this year’s confusing weather will mean for our garden birds.

RSPB’s Tony Whitehead says; “The last few months have been anything but predictable so it will be interesting to see what kinds of birds people are seeing this weekend, and in what numbers.

“With plenty of natural food still about some of the usual suspects might be a bit elusive, but heavy rain and strong winds could send other surprises our way.

“And spring-like signs might even be inspiring early breeding activities. There’s already been lots of evidence of birds recce-ing potential nest sites so whatever the weather, it’ll be a busy time.”

The RSPB is asking everyone to take part by picking an hour this weekend to record the birds they see, and feed their results back.

And they are urging everyone to submit their results, even if the numbers of birds they see might seem a bit low.

Tony Whitehead says; “We want to know what you see whether it’s a hundred birds or two birds, regardless of whether this is typical for your garden. We add up all the counts to work out the overall results.

“With over half a million people sending us their data this will help us build an important stock take of what’s happening in gardens this year. We can then compare these counts with others from previous years and note any changes.”

Martin Harper, the RSPB’s Conservation Director, says; “We all know how dreary it can be at this time of year and with the economy in such bad shape, why don’t you cheer yourself up by doing Big Garden Birdwatch? Sit down with a cuppa and watch from your windows. You’re really going to enjoy the wonderful world of nature out there.”

To step up for nature and take part, simply spend one hour over the weekend of 28-29 January, counting the birds in your garden or local park, and record the highest number of each bird species seen at any one time.

Visit the RSPB website www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch for more information and to submit your results online.

Pre-registration is open until Friday and those pre-registering will get a 10% discount for bird food and feeders from the RSPB online shop. A variety of bird care items including food and feeders are available from http://www.rspbshop.co.uk/.

For face-to-face advice the RSPB also has a shop at Dart’s farm in Topsham, Devon http://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/d/dartsfarm/index.aspx

HAUNTED SKIES: Daily Telegraph 30.11.57.

2012-01-23T04:38:00.001-08:00

http://hauntedskies.blogspot.com/2012/01/daily-telegraph-301157.html

OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today

2012-01-23T04:37:00.000-08:00

http://cryptozoologynews.blogspot.com/

On this day in 1917 the actor Ernest Borgnine was born. Borgnine has stared in The Poseidon Adventure, the Black Hole and Escape from New York.

Hail to the Chief
picture from Wikipedia

And now the news:

Birds flock to reserve near Malmesbury
Extinct? Cougar sightings on the rise in eastern U...
Anti-whalers in clash with Japanese
Barn owl wings adapted for silent flight
For Lightning-Fast Drones, Add a Bird's Intuition
Purple Calf is finally born
Ornithologists seek to answer riddle of white blac...
Florida: Davie couple say black panther has been p...

The original trailer of The Poseidon Adventure:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CP0wV7IvSiI

HAPPY NEW YEAR

2012-01-23T04:36:00.000-08:00

http://mytechquest.com/wallpaper/20-lovely-chinese-new-year-of-dragon-2012-wallpapers/

JON'S JOURNAL: On golden frogs and matching moles (A visit to Kennerland)

2012-01-23T04:29:00.000-08:00

Kennerland is another of those places where I used to go as a boy because the range of natural history was particularly pleasing.

It would probably be called a suburb of Woolsery if it wasn't for the fact that nobody actually lives there. I always used to go there every spring because of the tadpoles.

It is a particularly soggy neighbourhood (if I may steal a phrase from one of my favourite children's authors) and once was all marshes. As you can see, much of it has now been drained to make it more suitable for agricultural purposes, but the rushes remain (and so does quite a lot of the water).

Prudence made a New Year's Resolution to get more excercise, so each afternoon now she takes Corinna and me for a walk. I cannot walk very fast, and even slow ambling is painful, so I take my mind off it all by wielding a camera, and going in search of the natural world.

For some reason Kennerland - or to be more specific, the ditches along the road at Kennerland Cross - has always been a desirable residence for the local frog population. Each spring I used to visit the area and go tadpole spotting.

I was always amazed at the vast divergence of sizes, colours and shapes of the tadpoles there, and when, years later, I started becoming interested in the golden frogs of the West Country I often wondered whether these fantastically multicoloured tadpoles (some were certainly yellow, although I never saw any golden ones) could provide a clue to the aetiology of the fabulous golden ones.

I am still wondering, and it was one of the things not too far from the front of my mind as we drove up to Kennerland on Sunday afternoon.

As you can see, there was no shortage of frog spawn and although the nuclei of each egg seems to be black, it always did, and the tadpoles seemed not to change colour until they got considerably bigger. We are going to monitor these ditches (which have survived the passage of the years far better than those at Huddisford) and see what happens.

Frogs seem to be creatures of habit: they come back here to breed year after year, and I am always reminded of a sad little story my father told me. We used to have a pond at the bottom of the garden and every spring the garden frogs spawned there.

When my brother and his wife had children my parents had the pond filled in lest the little ones would fall in and do themself a mischief. But the frogs didn't seem to realise and every spring for the next few years they would lay their eggs on the lawn where the pond used to be, even though there was no water.

My mother used to collect the spawn in a bucket and take it up to a friend's pond to release it, so all ended well. That was in 1997/8 and that particular generation of frogs must have lived out their alloted span (or learned their lesson) because by the time we came here in 2005 it didn't happen anymore.

We also saw large numbers of molehills, proving (as if any proof were needed) that the local population of Talpa europea is doing fine and dandy....

And why Matching Mole in the title? Cop a load of this (particularly you, Max)....

DALE DRINNON: Another post-apocalyptic 'Cedar and Willow'

2012-01-23T04:28:00.000-08:00

New on Cedar and Willow, Dropping the other shoe on the post-apocalyptic series:
http://cedar-and-willow.blogspot.com/2012/01/post-apocalypsos-part-2-cedar-and.html

HONG KONG'S MYSTERIOUS COCKATOOS

2012-01-22T06:18:00.000-08:00

http://www.parrots.org/index.php/forums/viewthread/106/

Richard Muirhead sent the above link.

I remember seeing them in the flame trees outside what was then the Colonial Secretariat when my Dad worked there in the late 1960s. But I had no idea until today that they were anything but an invasive species, and certainly no idea that this colony was of conservation importance to the species as a whole.

I HAVE JUST RECEIVED THIS MESSAGE FROM 'TROPICAL FISH-FINDER'

2012-01-22T06:14:00.000-08:00

A very rare Venezuelan black wolf fish Hoplias curupira is currently available at Wildwoods. They only have one example of this species available and given the rarity we would recommend acting quickly if you would like to buy this fish. The fish is available to buy online via their Tropicalfish2yourdoor shop on Tropicalfishfinder along with a huge variety of other rare and oddball species.

Isn't this a magnificent creature? But there is only one of them and it is over £130. Pity :(

DALE DRINNON: Recent developments in Thunderbird cases

2012-01-22T05:43:00.000-08:00

Some more recent developments in Thunderbird cases

http://frontiersofzoology.blogspot.com/2012/01/more-on-thunderbirds.html

HAUNTED SKIES: Daily Telegraph 6.11.57

2012-01-22T04:42:00.003-08:00

http://hauntedskies.blogspot.com/2012/01/daily-telegraph-61157_10.html

OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today

2012-01-22T04:42:00.001-08:00

http://cryptozoologynews.blogspot.com/

On this day in 1897 Elva Zona Heaster was found murdered. Her murder trial made legal history in the united states as the first trial where ‘testimony from a ghost’ was taken into account.

And now the news:

Child Eaten By Crocodile In Front Of Father
Lost Charles Darwin fossils rediscovered in cabine...
Devastating blood fluke's code cracked
Orphaned baby seals taken to sanctuary after storm...
Seabird foraging areas 'key for conservation'
Humans skilled anglers 42,000 years ago
Sth America's oldest predator fossil found
Weird Noise: Strange Sounds Popping Up In Differen...

A dramatic recreation of the Heaster murder:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke1dqOv9Sos

JON'S JOURNAL: Exploring Huddisford

2012-01-22T04:19:00.000-08:00

When I was a boy all the lanes around Huddisford Woods had ditches at the side, and all of these ditches were tiny ecosystems teeming with life.

For years I would patrol these little ponds looking for water beetles, dragonfly larvae and tadpoles, and it was one of the things that I was looking forward to doing again when I came back to North Devon seven years ago.

But to my disappointment the ditches were all either dried up or hopelessly polluted. I suppose that I shouldn't be surprised really. The water table has dropped, most of the marshes have been drained to create usable farmland and there are many more cars on the roads than there used to be.

When I was a boy I cycled all around the area but it just wouldn't be safe now. There are just too many cars on the roads. I remember back in 1972 a schoolpal of mine deciding to start a new hobby of collecting car license plate numbers. He was overjoyed to have written down 21 different ones passing through Woolsery in a single day! I thought then that this was a singularly pointless excercise, but I certainly wouldn't attempt it now. But if I did, I expect that we would amass well over a thousand in the same length of time.

Now, where there were once dozens of little self-contained ecosystems, there is only one left.

Corinna and I have set ourselves a little task for 2012. We are going to follow the progress of this one remaining mini stream throughout the year, and try and make a record of its inhabitants through the seasons.

Now, at the risk of sounding like Lloyd Grossman (who severely irritates me - but that is another story), what animal would use this obviously well worn trackway up the bank and into the hedge?

Well, I know that we are talking about Huddisford Woods and that since we got DNA from hairs found there, there seems no doubt that at least one big cat inhabits the area, but this trackway was made by something smaller - probably a fox.

Finally, look at this. As we have been noting in recent posts, the world really does seem to have been turned upside down. This red campion is supposed to flower between May and October, but was photographed at Huddisford yesterday afternoon. Is it a late straggler from last October? Or is it a very early flower that thinks it is May? Either way, it should not be flowering in January, and is an early sign that all is far from right!

KARL SHUKER: FELIS - LOST CONSTELLATION OF THE CAT

2012-01-22T04:18:00.000-08:00

Today, only 88 constellations in the night sky are formally recognised by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), but many additional ones were once described and named too. One of these was Felis, the Cat, which was originally designated in 1799 by French astronomer Joseph Jérôme de Lalande, a noted cat-lover who had lamented the domestic cat's absence in a sky populated by no less than three different domestic dog constellations (Canis Major, Canis Minor, and Canes Venatici), as well as three wild cats (Leo, Leo Minor, and Lynx). And so Felis, situated between the constellations of Antlia (the Air Pump) and Hydra (the Water Snake), was duly added to the list, becoming the thirty-fourth animal constellation (albeit a rather small one).

Read on...

DALE DRINNON: A Postapocalyptic Cedar and Willow

2012-01-22T04:04:00.000-08:00

New on Cedar and Willow, touching on the post-apocalyptic period again. A couple of good jokes in there if you go looking for them.

http://cedar-and-willow.blogspot.com/2012/01/post-apocalypsos-first-team.html

P.S. If you think there will be no traffic on it, you could mention it includes Tina Louise photos this time.

Thylacine passes extinction test

2012-01-21T06:25:00.000-08:00

People should stop wasting time and money looking for the Tasmanian tiger, according to new Australian research.

Dr Diana Fisher and Dr Simon Blomberg from the University of Queensland's school of biological sciences report their findings in a recent issue of Conservation Biology.

Since the last wild thylacine was captured in 1933, there have been ongoing searches and numerous unconfirmed sightings of the carnivorous marsupial.

But, says Fisher, such efforts are misguided.

"There's been more search efforts for the thylacine than any other mammal globally," she says.

"I think that's just a waste of money."

Read on...

SCOTTIE WESTFALL: Jaguarundis in Florida

2012-01-21T06:05:00.000-08:00

I thought you might find this interesting:
http://t4studios.com/thefloridajaguarundi.html

Image: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/56/Puma_yaguarondi.jpg/800px-Puma_yaguarondi.jpg

HAUNTED SKIES: Daily Telegraph 4.11.57

2012-01-21T05:57:00.003-08:00

http://hauntedskies.blogspot.com/2012/01/daily-telegraph-41157.html

OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today

2012-01-21T05:57:00.001-08:00

http://cryptozoologynews.blogspot.com/

On this day in 1561 Sir Francis Bacon was born. Bacon was a scientist, philosopher and politician who foolish fools think wrote Shakespeare’s plays.

And now the news:

Fungus blamed in millions of bat deaths
After 12 million years, plant species at risk of e...
Black cockatoos hungry and dying
Cyborg rats tests could fix brain damage in humans...
Math formula may explain why serial killers kill
'Big cat' tests on second Gloucestershire deer car...
Prehistoric bear skulls found underwater in Mexico...
Monkey 'Extinct For Years' Found In Jungle
Rare Sea Creature Appears on Seattle Woman's Dock

Basically, the crackpot argument that Bacon wrote Shakespeare’s plays stems from the fact that in the 19th century snobs couldn’t believe that somebody could be a fantastic writer having attended a grammar school rather than a public school, conveniently ignoring the hundreds of other great authors and storytellers that didn’t have rich parents, either:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKlFI6sdpcs

JON'S JOURNAL: Home again

2012-01-21T05:02:00.001-08:00

We have been away since Sunday, and only got back at some ridiculous hour last night.

For the last week we have been staying with my eldest stepdaughter Shosh at her house in Staffordshire, and have been largely indoors, hence the fact that there have been no updates to this series because I haven't been anywhere to do any significant Nature Study.

When I got home last night I was pleased to see that the big southeast Asian fishtank in my study looks magnificent! It has been looking a little shoddy for some weeks, and when he was here Max suggested that it needed a filter with more ooomph. Said filter was duly ordered and installed last Saturday. When we returned last night it had certainly done its magic!

Just look at this brief clip of Max's Ctenopoma weeksii - otherwise known as the mottled bushfish, an unjustifiably obscure species from the Congo basin. I am really chuffed!

ANDREW MAY: Words from the Wild Frontier

2012-01-20T05:24:00.000-08:00

News and stories from the remoter fringes of the CFZ blogosphere....

From Nick Redfern's "There's Something in the Woods...":

Werewolves at 100 — The centenary of a classic book on lycanthropy...
Something in the Sewers — Sewer legends and much more in Darklore volume 6...

From CFZ Canada:

The RCMP and Sasquatch — The odder duties of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police...

WATCHER OF THE SKIES: Glaucous gulls, Somerset cranes, and the 'Lady of the Loch'

2012-01-19T12:59:00.000-08:00

As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... about out-of-place birds, rare vagrants, and basically all things feathery and Fortean.

Because we live in strange times there are more and more bird stories that come her way so she has now moved onto the main CFZ bloggo with a new column with the same name as her aforementioned ones....

Glaucous gulls arrive from Iceland in large numbers

Again from the RSPB, Alan Tissiman, Communications Manager, writes that RSPB Scotland is reporting 'a major influx of Iceland glaucous gulls to the west coast of Scotland. Over 100 birds have been recorded in Argyll alone with many more being seen in the Western Isles and Orkney and Shetland.' Conservation officer Martin Scott, based in Stornoway, said “These are beautiful ghostly birds with a suitably frosty appearance given that they have come down from the Arctic.

"The two species concerned are very similar although the glaucous gull is generally larger than the Iceland gull.

“Unlike our resident herring gulls, the two Arctic species don’t have any black on the wing tips – that’s useful for identification purposes. Many of the birds seem to be juveniles and have a beautifully patterned delicate plumage when seen close to.

“Unusually we are seeing more Iceland gulls than glaucous gulls this year. I imagine the recent windy weather must be having an effect and is pushing the birds into Scottish waters from the Atlantic. Good places to see them are harbours, particularly where there are fishing boats. Stornoway is proving a great place to find them at the moment but judging by reports the birds are being seen all around the Scottish coast. They are well worth looking out for!”

http://www.rspb.org.uk/media/releases/302178-ghostly-birds-from-the-arctic-flock-to-scotland
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‘Lady of the Loch’
Scottish Wildlife Trust’s famous female osprey, known as ‘Lady of the Loch’ by her worldwide fans, has had a film produced about her. She has been returning to Loch of the Lowes in Perthshire and regularly producing chicks consecutively for the last 21 years. Filmmaker Lisa Trainer has included footage taken by a high definition camera installed in the osprey’s nest along with other filming. You can see the film here:

http://scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/news/film-celebrates-world-famous-osprey/

You can also watch a webcam live from the loch at: http://scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/things-to-do/wildlife-webcams/loch-of-lowes/

Back in June 2010 there were concerns that she would die as footage showed her very ill in her nest, but she survived and is thought to be the oldest breeding female ever recorded in the UK, producing around 59 eggs from which 48 chicks survived. At the age of 26 in 2011 she has confounded experts by outliving what they thought was a life-span of 8 years! Undertaking a round trip of 6,000 miles to winter in Gambia is a pretty amazing feat considering her age. In the 1950s the osprey re-colonised the UK naturally after being persecuted to extinction as a breeding bird here in 1916. It is not as common as the golden eagle and there are only around 200 breeding pairs across Britain. But it seems that ‘Lady’ is doing her bit for the species.

Somerset’s wild cranes
Go to: http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/somerset-cranes12.html to find more information on how you can experience “the magic of Somerset’s first wild reintroduced cranes.”
Wild cranes used to be a common sight on the Somerset Levels and Moors 400 years ago but hunting and habitat changes forced the birds to disappear. If you would like to be a part of one of the six events to hear a talk, have refreshments, see a video and see the flock of thirty wild cranes, click on the link above. You can also find out more about the Great Crane Project by visiting: http://www.thegreatcraneproject.org.uk/

They are magnificent-looking birds and can be up to 4ft (1.2m) tall, being around 20% larger than the grey heron. Our tallest breeding bird, they have a wingspan of up to 8ft (2.2-2.45m), which is even bigger than a white-tailed eagle.

Glaucous gull picture: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Larus_hyperboreus-USFWS.jpg

RELEASE THE BATS

2012-01-19T11:38:00.000-08:00

In recent decades scientific data, particularly ringing recoveries, have uncovered some of the migration secrets of many species of European bat. For example, we now know that at least four species of bat (Nathusius' Pipistrelle, Noctule, Leisler's Bat and Parti-coloured Bat) migrate vast distances from northeastern Europe to the southwest of the continent to spend the winter. Through ringing recoveries, certain individuals have been shown to fly huge distances, with record one-way autumn migrations of Nathusius' Pipistrelle and Parti-coloured Bat totalling 1,905 km (Latvia to France) and 1,787 km (Russia to France) respectively.

Read on

It has to be done....

RONAN COGHLAN: Where do polar bears come from?

2012-01-19T11:37:00.000-08:00

No, I don't mean where do they come from today. I mean where did they come from originally? The Smurfit Institute of Genetics at Trinity College, Dublin, have discovered the answer. The remains of a brown bear between 20,000 and 50,000 years old have been found in a cave in Ireland. Use of mitochondrial DNA has shown she is an ancestor of all today's polar bears. Perhaps the flagging population of polar bears might increase if they were offered a diet of Guinness.

Ronan Coghlan

HAUNTED SKIES: Daily Telegraph 3.12.57.

2012-01-19T11:02:00.000-08:00

http://hauntedskies.blogspot.com/2012/01/daily-telegraph-31257.html