Interested in Monitor Lizards? Free on-line Magazine BIAWAK

Now available (Vol. 6 No. 2) of BIAWAK, an open-access journal of varanid lizard biology and husbandry. The issue can be downloaded directly from: http://varanidae.org/6_2.pdf

Individual pdfs of each article and section are also available for free download on the IVIG website: http://varanidae.org/biawak
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DALE DRINNON: Bigfoot, Benny's Blogs

The links were not posted soon enough to get in yesterday so today we have two days' worth.

New at Frontiers of Zoology:

http://frontiersofzoology.blogspot.com/2012/12/independant-dna-analysis-of-smeja-steak.html

http://frontiersofzoology.blogspot.com/2012/12/bigfoot-evidence-reply-to-dna-analysis.html

New at Benny's Blog For Thelma Todd:

http://benny-drinnon.blogspot.com/2012/12/daily-record-dec-16-1935.html

http://benny-drinnon.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-other-thelma-todd.html

http://benny-drinnon.blogspot.com/2012/12/death-of-thelma-todd-la-times-pt-5.html

New at Benny's Blog, the Ominous Octopus Omnibus:

http://bennypdrinnon.blogspot.com/2012/12/superman-believe-it-or-not.html

http://bennypdrinnon.blogspot.com/2012/12/santa-claus.html

http://bennypdrinnon.blogspot.com/2012/12/dick-tracy-returns-to-moon-for-christmas.html

Best Wishes, Dale D.

TODAY'S BIG CAT ROUND-UP

The hunt for British Big Cats attracts far more newspaper-column inches than any other cryptozoological subject. There are so many of them now that we feel that they should be archived by us in some way, and we should have a go at publishing a regular round-up of the stories as they come in. In September 2012 Emma Osborne decided that the Mystery Cat Study Group really deserved a blog of its own within the CFZ Blog Network.

NEWSLINK: 3 years later, big cats on prowl in Pann...

FEATURE LINK: Cats of the Magical and Mysterious K...

FORTEAN BIRD NEWS FROM THE WATCHER OF THE SKIES (CFZ)

In an article for the first edition of Cryptozoology Bernard Heuvelmans wrote that cryptozoology is the study of 'unexpected animals' and following on from that perfectly reasonable assertion, it seems to us that, whereas the study of out of place birds may not have the glamour of the hunt for bigfoot or lake monsters, it is still a perfectly valid area for the Fortean zoologist to be interested in. So, after about six months of regular postings on the main bloggo, Corinna has taken the plunge and started a 'Watcher of the Skies' blog of her own as part of the CFZ Bloggo Network.

• Bewick's swans: Baby boost for threatened birds
• Possums eating rare birds
• Critically endangered parakeets back from the brin...
• Harrier deaths renew calls for continued windfarm ...

I'M YER GONZO BLOG DOO DAH MAN

I used to hate the winter; living in the city without much money, it was cold and grey and unforgiving, and not much else. But in the country it has its own savage beauty. That being said, it is so mild this year that although it is more pleasant to live through, I am seriously worried about the knock-on effects on the environment, especially to butterflies and flowers, who appear to need some degree of freezing during the winter months in order to develop to the optimum. I am still reading 'Electric Muse' and singing 'The Cutty Wren' to the orange cat. I quite like the winter.

Rob Ayling sent me this fascinating news release the other day. This definitely needs checking out
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/12/introducing-vicar.html

Today's Gonzo Track of the Day is from Mountain
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/12/gonzo-daily-track-of-day-mountain.html

Our daily visit to Thom the World Poet
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/12/thom-world-poet-daily-poem_27.html

Paul May's festive music
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/12/countdown-from-christmas-paul-may.html

A revealing and honest story about Barbara Dickson. I have much the same condition, so I take my hat off to her
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/12/barbara-dickson-in-sunday-express.html

An interesting new side project for Jon Anderson
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/12/link-jeff-pevar-teams-with-yes-frontman.html

*  The Gonzo Daily is a two-way process. If you have any news or want to write for us please contact me at jon@eclipse.co.uk. If you are an artist and want to showcase your work, or even just say hello,  please write to me at gonzo@cfz.org.uk. Please copy, paste and spread the word about this magazine as widely as possible. We need people to read us in order to grow, and as soon as it is viable we shall be invading more traditional magaziney areas. Join in the fun, spread the word and maybe if we all chant loud enough we CAN stop it raining. See you tomorrow...

*  The Gonzo Daily is - as the name implies - a daily online magazine (mostly) about artists connected to the Gonzo Multimedia group of companies. But it also has other stuff as and when the editor feels like it. The same team also do a weekly newsletter called - imaginatively - The Gonzo Weekly. Find out about it at this link: http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/11/all-gonzo-news-wots-fit-to-print.html

*  Jon Downes, the Editor of all these ventures, is an old hippy of 53 who - together with his orange cat - puts it all together from a converted potato shed in a tumbledown cottage deep in rural Devon. He is ably assisted by his lovely wife Corinna, his bulldog/boxer Prudence, his mother-in-law, and a motley collection of social malcontents. Plus... did we mention the orange cat?

OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today

http://cryptozoologynews.blogspot.com/

On this day in 1985 Dian Fossey was brutally murdered. The case remains unsolved to this day and one of the most plausible theories is that she was murdered by persons or organisations opposed to her work on gorilla conservation.

And now the news:

Rhinos and elephants: the secret lives of Africa's...

US scientists' consensus - Climate change is alrea...

Bad news for America’s bats: Deadly fungus persist...

Kane: Diving for Turtles-Lake Champlain – via Herp...

Cook Islands create vast sanctuary for Sharks

Life history and the ecology of stress: how do glu...

Australian toddler finds deadly snakes in wardrobe...

126 new species identified in Mekong region in 201...

The trailer for Gorillas in the Mist based on Fossey's life:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sy_7OeoZCQY

CRYPTOLINK: Melba Ketchum on Coast to Coast

The Coast to Coast AM introduction for the interview:

Joining George Knapp, Dr. Melba S. Ketchum discussed her DNA analysis of possible Bigfoot hair samples, which was leaked to the public before the publication of her peer-reviewed paper. She reviewed her background as a veterinarian, years of research in genetics, including forensics, and her founding of the company DNA Diagnostics in 1985. She also addressed controversies that have been stirred up in the Bigfoot research community about her findings. Part of the problem, she explained, was that some non-ethical people became involved in her project, though none of their research was ever incorporated into her final paper.

While she was not at liberty to discuss all aspects of her Bigfoot DNA testing before her manuscript is published, she confirmed that analysis was done on over 100 hair and skin samples, sent in by eyewitness of the creature, or from researchers in the field. To maintain objectivity, some of the samples were sent “blind” to other labs– that is they were not identified as possibly being from a Sasquatch. Ketchum outlined how her lab was able to prevent contamination problems, by checking against the DNA of her lab employees and the people who submitted the samples.

Read on...