DALE DRINNON: Bigfoot, Nandi Bear, Cedar and Willow, Benny's Blog

New at the Frontiers of Zoology
http://frontiersofzoology.blogspot.com/2012/05/kansas-bigfoot-photo.html

An older article which has become requested recently:
http://frontiersofzoology.blogspot.com/2011/05/is-nandi-bear-actually-bear.html

Some requested Maxfield Parrish art at Cedar and Willow:
http://cedar-and-willow.blogspot.com/2012/05/maxfield-parrish-art.html

And Benny has a blog up for ZaSu Pitts, one of the actresses used as a model for Willow (along with Dorothy Provine, Vera-Ellen, etc. Willow is rather thin and has a rather sad face)
http://benny-drinnon.blogspot.com/2012/05/zasu-pitts.html

CARL MARSHALL: Update on the black fox

Did you watch the channel 4 docu on the black fox? it was on the other night.

It turns out my second theory was half correct! The animal was indeed a domesticated, melanistic silver/Siberian fox - but this is where it get even more intriguing - if you remember, my original theory was that this creature could have been a black phase Arctic fox. I was basing this theory, mainly on the thickness of the fox's coat and the shape of its ears but eventually discarded this idea after more research and eventually favored the Siberian fox which does normally display these features. Well after all this it seems that the fox in question was a black silver fox BUT a genentic mutation suggested it may have had raccoon dog dna introduced into its genetic make up at some point to produce an even thicker coat. This individual was probably introduced as a pet as they are now proving to be very popular pets in he USA.

I actually revealed this as a possible identity to Helen McRobie from the Anglica Ruskin uni long before she had the results from the tests.

Hopefully it wont be to long before we get our samples now the program has aired.

Hope you are well mate and look forward to visiting again soon.

MUIRHEAD`S MYSTERIES: THE WINGED CAT COURT CASE - A WINGED CAT IN LEEDS, JUNE 1893

This hitherto “unknown” cat with wings case was first reported in The Bristol Mercury, Friday June 23rd 1893 and at least one other paper. It may also be the only cat with wings ever to be featured in an English court, indeed one of the very few mystery animals to have been the subject of litigation? ! Now there`s an interesting piece of research for someone! I have not read the Bristol Mercury for the following few days so cannot tell you if any person(s) reported their own stories.

The Bristol Mercury, Friday, June 23rd 1893

A great deal of amusement was created at the Leeds County Court on Wednesday afternoon, when an action was brought by Mr W.E. Markham a relieving officer of the Bromley Union , against a labourer named named Benjamin Martin of Tong road, New Wortley (?) to recover possesion of a Persian cat, known throughout the neighbourhood as the “winged cat” , which he claimed as his property, or £50. Damages for detaining the animal were also claimed. The cat, which has extraordinary flap-like appendages on each side of its body, has for some time past been exhibited at the house of the defendant. Evidence was called to prove that the animal had formerly belonged to the Bramley Hill Top Workhouse. Since then it had dissapeared, and was eventually found in the possesion of the defendant. Mr Frank Somers, veterinary surgeon described the cat as a half-bred English and Persian cat He examined the “wings” very carefully , and was persuaded that they were matted hair. He thought the hair had simply accumulated because the cat had neglected and not licked the hair off. It was only a growth of matted hair. Mr Child – What is the value of the cat? Witness it is not worth anything as an imposition to an itinerant show. In reply to Mr Dunn, he admitted that the cat was in very neglected condition. He had heard Mr Markham say that he had clipped off the hair when he had the cat, and it was quite probable. He had seen the same accumulation on dogs. After the hearing of the evidence, which caused a considerable amount of merriment, his Honour Judge Greenhow returned a verdict for the plaintiff. (1)

1. The Bristol Mercury June 23rd 1893 p.8

BIG CAT NEWS: Scarborough and Switzerland

The hunt for British Big Cats attracts far more newspaper column inches than any other cryptozoological subject. There are so many of them now that we feel that they should be archived in some way by us, so we should have a go at publishing a regular round-up of the stories as they come in.

It takes a long time to do and is a fairly tedious task so I am not promising that they will be done each day, but I will do them as regularly as I can. JD

'I spotted the Beast of the Bay'
Scarborough Today
North Bay Railway worker Steve Johnson points out where he is sure he saw a large black cat prowling this morning, while he was working on the platform at Scalby Mills. Picture by Andrew Higgins 121905a 07/05/12 COULD a huge panther be prowling ...

It is a slow week this week. One story from the north of England, and - bizarrely - one from Switzerland quoted in a Cornish newspaper...

Warning issued over mystery cat sightings
This is Cornwall
Police in Switzerland have warned hikers to be on the lookout for a large black cat resembling a panther. Authorities have received reports of several sightings of ...

Thylacine/Dingo Interaction

The latest cryptozoological cause célèbre is a research paper which has suggested that the mainland thylacine was out-competed by the dingo. Here are just a few of the newspaper stories about it:

Dingoes led to mainland thylacine's demise
ABC Science Online
Dingo dinner The dingo did it according to a new theory on why the iconic thylacine became extinct on mainland Australia about 3000 years ago.

Bigger and brainier: did dingoes kill thylacines?
Phys.Org
Skulls of two thylacines and a dingo from the Nullarbor in Western Australia. A thylacine, thought to be female (left); a male thylacine (middle); ...

Dingoes hunted Tasmanian Tigers to extinction
ABC Online
Thylacines, more commonly known as Tasmanian tigers, once roamed the mainland ... TIMOTHY MCDONALD: Faded black and white footage of the last thylacine in ...

Claims dingoes 'wiped out' Tasmanian tigers
ABC Online
Thylacines, more commonly known as Tasmanian tigers, have been extinct since ... Faded black and white footage of the last thylacine in captivity shows a ...

Dingoes may have wiped out Tasmanian tiger on mainland
The Conversation
Dingoes were twice the size of female thylacines and could have caused their extinction on mainland ... The last known Tasmanian thylacine died in 1936.

HAUNTED SKIES: Daily Mirror 19.7.67.

http://hauntedskies.blogspot.com/2012/05/daily-mirror-19767.html

I'M THE GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN

It's sunday, and - as always - time,
to do Gonzo Daily in rhyme
or at least these small notifications about Gonzo singing star sensations,
and other things that I think are best,
or at least I find of interest
so now it's time to take a peek,
at what I have for you this week.

Something to stop you feeling sad,
an interview with Galahad:
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/05/exclusive-galahad-interview-part-two.html

An artist talented and demure,
Auburn have just come back off tour,
and so I'm proud to bring to you
my own Liz Lenten interview:
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/05/exclusive-auburn-interview.html

Here's something that was sent to me,
about Rob Ayling and a cup of tea:
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/05/everything-stops-for-tea.html
And whilst Rob Ayling visits places,here's a picture of him making faces:
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/05/its-caption-time.html

And something perfectly going to plan,
The Unthanks doing Dondestan,
why have we posted it (do be quiet)
we're all big fans of Robert Wyatt:
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/05/unthanks-perform-robert-wyatts.html

Something too cool to be put into words,
a DVD featuring The Byrds,
and Jon has finally confessed
why this lineup (he thinks) was the best:
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/05/high-flying-birds.html

And finally, we have hit upon
an interview with Jon Anderson:
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/05/link-jon-anderson-interview-creation.html

And now, I'm afraid that we must go,
but you will see me back tomorrow,
but if more rhymes are what you seek,
then you must wait another week,
cos tho the poems make a fun day
I only do this stuff on sunday.....