THE CRYPTODANE: The cows that didn't come home

The mystery of the dead cows (14 altogether) that have washed ashore in Denmark and Sweden during the last couple of weeks now seems to have been solved. There has been a lot of speculation about the case in the media, as the cows had their back legs tied together, the abdomen cut open, and their ears cut off.

Closer examination of some of the dead animals only served to deepen the mystery, as they seemed to be very high quality animals, and at least two of them seemed to have been killed with a bolt gun.

Read on...

LARS THOMAS: Cthulhu awakes! - or perhaps not...

During the last few days, this rather impressive photograph has started doing the rounds on the internet. It was sent to me by FB friend Margit From who had found it on the website of The Lightly Braised Turnip, which we all know is a bastion of truth. They basically claim that an enormous squid has beached itself on the coast of California and that it was a result of radioactive pollution from the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan.

Impressive picture, one must say, although the shadow under the creatures looks a bit iffy to say the least. Maybe because this squid had already beached itself in october 2013 in Spain. On that occasion it was considerably smaller, although the photographer by creative use of forced perspective did his best to make it look monstrous. This picture can be seen on the www.live.science.com.

All in all, a nice piece of photoshop work - but thanks to eagly-eyed FB contact Martin Relsted, I can also show you the original picture the squid was superimposed upon. In this case a picture from a whale-stranding in Chile in November 2011.

Read on...

THE CRYPTODANE: Cow Madness

Strange things are a-foot (or should that be a-hoof) in little old Denmark (and in neighbouring Sweden for that matter) at the moment. 2014 have started out with a bona-fide mystery. It is not strictly cryptozoological as such, but it is rater weird.

Within the last week or so 11 dead cows have washed ashore in Denmark (3 animals) and in southern Sweden (8 animals). This is strange enough in itself, but upon closer examination of said cows, things started to take a rather sinister turn. All the cows had their back legs tied together, the abdomen had been cut open, and in case of the Swedish cows, their ears had been cut off.

Read on....

FROM LARS THOMAS' ARCHIVES - Don't we all look young!

THE CRYPTODANE: Danish crocodiles

A couple of days ago Swedish and Danish newspapers were full of a story about how a raid by the Swedish police on a house in the outskirts of the city of Malmö in southern Sweden had yielded among other things a 2 meter long Nile crocodile stomping around in a greenhouse, and a similar sized, although dead reptile in a freezer in the basement. When asked about the crocodiles, the wife of a man suspected of running a major rencing operation, commented rather wistfully, that the crocodiles had been a gift to her husband, and that she was mighty tired of them, as she had hoped to use the greenhouse for other purposes. Having searched the premises, the police left with a number of suspected stolen items, but left the crocodile in the greenhouse for the time being. When asked about it, local police admitted they were at a loss, as to what should be done with the reptile.

Read on...

WEIRD WEEKEND 2013: Lars Thomas

WEIRD WEEKEND 2013: Lars Thomas and Nick Wadham

LIZ BITAKARAMIRE: Day Four at the Weird Weekend 2013

And so to the final day. As we bid farewell to Woolfardisworthy, but only for a year at the most, what have we learnt? Sarah and Maya taught us about orbs and how to catch them on camera ourselves. Ronan told tales of leprechauns and Irish kings. We had James Newton on Bigfoot and Lars on the cryptozoology of Greenland as well as that of Jon's garden, a talk he co-hosted with Nick Wadham. 

At the end of Ronan's speech Jon was presented with a signed Weird Weekend poster as a thank you for all the hard work he had done, and then the man himself delivered his customary keynote speech. Many were moved as he spoke of the passing of Mick Farren, and excited when Jon announced that there would indeed be a Weird Weekend 2014 if he had anything to do with it. Unlike the Pope, Jonathan Downes will not be abdicating his throne just yet, dudes....

LIZ BITAKARAMIRE: Day Two At Weird Weekend 2013

We got off to an amazing start with a vegetarian fry-up for breakfast. Starting with amazing food is always a good plan. Becky at Higher West Town B&B is a great cook. I also had some of the best coffee of my life. The coffee in Devon must be stronger than up north because it just took two small cups and I was as wired as a rock star on acid. 

While Paul rested up I decided to use my artificial energy wisely and set off to the village and Jon's house to see if I could be of assistance. Everything, however, was in hand, so instead I got to catch up with old friends again and make a couple of new ones. I also met Prudence for the first time and she is as adorable in the fur as she is in her pictures. 

We discovered Atlantis in Bideford in the afternoon, of all places next door but one to Asda. This, of course, is notthe Atlantis but a children's nautical theme park, which if I'm honest, I wish I wasn't passed the age restriction to enjoy. Adults can sample the lovely food, though, which was consolation enough. 

Next was Hartland Quay. Words cannot describe the beauty, hence the pictures. 

We're still in shock with the road widths in this part of the world and how it can be justifiable to set the speed limit on such dangerous stretches at 30 and 40! But we are still in one piece.

And lastly, we come to the talks themselves. I made it to all of them and all of them were very interesting. My favourites have to be Ronan Coghlan on the church and evolution (what he said made perfect sense to me and was refreshingly unbiased) and Lars Thomas on the natural history of trolls. 

The volunteers in the canteen are to be applauded. I didn't sample much of the food last night but the crumble was heavenly. 

So for reasons that must be obvious, I'm really rather looking forward to day three. And in about to have my third coffee just because I'm daring....

WEIRD WEEKEND 2013: Lars Thomas

CFZ PEOPLE: Lars Thomas

Lars's birthday was yesterday, and I missed it.... Whoops 

THE LATEST ON THE SOUTH PARK BIG CAT

Ever since I started the Centre for Fortean Zoology 21 long years ago, I have always insisted that our watchword is not to either prove or disprove theories about mystery animals.  Our job is to find out the truth.  Because in the end, nothing else matters.

The week before last, whilst Danish zoologist Lars Thomas and his two sons were staying with us, Lars heard a remarkable story from a man in the village.  Lars was out walking by the community centre where we hold the Weird Weekend, on his first morning in the village, when a bloke in a small red car pulled up beside him, and asked whether he was anything to do with the Weird Weekend.  When he replied in the affirmative, the man told him that on the previous Sunday night he had seen what appeared to be a large cat walking along the road, the community centre to the small estate which always amuses my visitors when I tell have in mind that it is called South Park.

Lars went straight to the hedgerow where his new friend had reported seeing the mystery animal, and took some hair samples.  They went back to Denmark with him, and today he wrote to me:

Have been through the hairs from the bush at the road across from the community centre - nothing exciting I'm afraid. Two hairs from a sheep - no surprise there, as there were sheep in the field next to it, and 6 assorted hairs from a dog.

But at least we checked!

LARS THOMAS: The first Danish wolf in 200 years?

http://cryptodane.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-first-wolf-in-denmark-in-200-years.html

WW2012: Lee Fallows interviews Lars Thomas

LARS THOMAS: A beast of a bezoar

This little piece of writing is perhaps not so much a matter of cryptozoology as a piece of magic - or at least pertaining to magic.

Quite a lot of us have read the Harry Potter books and have read the famous scene where Harry saves a poisoned Ron Weazley by shoving a bezoar down his throat. Now, I have always imagined bezoars, which are "stones" that forms in the stomach of goats and various other cloven-hoofed animals, to be rather small, and indeed in the Harry Potter stories that's exactly what they are, so imagine my surprise, when leafing through an old book about daily life in Denmark in olden days, I came across a picture.

Read on...

LARS THOMAS: The Strange Case of the Dog-Loving Shieldbearer (Part Two)

Publish Post It seems that I haven't been doing my homework properly. Several people have called my attention to the fact, that the extinct fly which may still be living in southern Denmark and northern Germany, is in fact not extinct. It was rediscovered in Spain in 2009 and 2010. Oh well - nevertheless, I intend to carry on looking for it here, as this would be several hundred kilometers outside of its formerly known distribution.

Read on

LARS THOMAS: The Strange Case of the Dog Loving Shieldbearer

Publish Post Although I have never considered myself an entomologist, I have nurtured a growing interest in insects the last 5 or 6 years. I have even managed to rediscover a beetle everybody thought had died out in Denmark in the early 1990's, but nothing REALLY cryptozoological - until now that is.
Read on...

LARS THOMAS: On A Friday Night

Dear friends,

It has now been than two months since my wife Jeanett disappeared without a trace. Despite the best efforts of the police in Denmark, and several public appeals on Danish television, we are still at a complete loss as to what has happened to her. But we - myself and our two sons - have to live on as best we can, but we also have to realize that the chance of ever seeing her again is slim. The uncertainty is the worst, but by now we need to say goodbye somehow, to draw a line, and to move on. So I hope all of you in the world of cryptozoology who have shown us so much love and support in the last 10 weeks will take a few moments to read my goodbye, and spare a kind thought for Jeanett every now and then.

I thank you, and hope to see a lot of you at the Weird Weekend in August.

Lars

On a Friday night
On a Friday night, when the sun went down
You grabbed your coat and went to town
“I’ll buy a book and eat a bit”
“I may be a while, an hour or two”
Ok, said I
Goodbye
Goodbye
But that was more than two months ago
On a Friday night, when the Sun went down

But darkness came and went
And came and went again

On Monday morning I think I knew
The world had lost its light
And the Sun was only half as bright

I’ve cried for you
I’ve cried for me
I’ve cried for the boys
But most of all I have cried for the world that lost you
On a Friday night, when the Sun went down

Where did you go?
I wish I knew
Were you sad?
Were you determined?
Were you frightened?
Or just surprised?
On a Friday night, when the Sun went down

I’ve spent my life seeking answers, solving riddles, and illuminating the mysteries of life
But I still don’t know what happened
On a Friday night, when the Sun went down

Did you really have to be the answer that will always escape me?

“Alas”, cries the raven
“Nevermore!”

I guess we will have to do without
The answer – and you.

Farewell, my sweet!
Be at peace.

CFZ PEOPLE: Lars Thomas URGENT

1As regular readers of the CFZ Bloggo network will be aware. Jeanett Thomas (48) has been missing for over a month. Her husband, our old friend Lars Thomas, has been on Danish TV, and the story has been on the front page of the biggest Danish newspapers.

Appeals for information have proliferated across the Internet and the cryptozoological community has rallied around. All we can do is repeat that:

Lars asks: "Please, if you know, or have heard anything, let me know."

Contact Lars: lars_thomas@msn.com
Or me: jon@eclipse.co.uk

Our thoughts and prayers are with Lars and his two sons at this terrible time.

We have heard from Lars Thomas this morning. There is no news. He made an appeal on Danish TV last night, and "today she is on the websites of the three biggest newspapers in Denmark, [...] and tomorrow her picture will be on the frontpage of our two biggest tabloids."

Jeanett Thomas (48) is still missing. We repeat what we posted yesterday:

Our old friend Lars Thomas has asked us to post this:

On Friday his wife Jeanett left home. She was only meant to be gone a few hours, but she has disappeared. There has been no contact from her.

Lars has contacted the police, but asks: "Please, if you know, or have heard anything, let me know".

Contact Lars: lars_thomas@msn.com
Or me: jon@eclipse.co.uk

Our thoughts and prayers are with Lars at this terrible time.