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Half a century ago, Belgian Zoologist Bernard Heuvelmans first codified cryptozoology in his book On the Track of Unknown Animals.

The Centre for Fortean Zoology (CFZ) are still on the track, and have been since 1992. But as if chasing unknown animals wasn't enough, we are involved in education, conservation, and good old-fashioned natural history! We already have three journals, the largest cryptozoological publishing house in the world, CFZtv, and the largest cryptozoological conference in the English-speaking world, but in January 2009 someone suggested that we started a daily online magazine! The CFZ bloggo is a collaborative effort by a coalition of members, friends, and supporters of the CFZ, and covers all the subjects with which we deal, with a smattering of music, high strangeness and surreal humour to make up the mix.

It is edited by CFZ Director Jon Downes, and subbed by the lovely Lizzy Bitakara'mire (formerly Clancy), scourge of improper syntax. The daily newsblog is edited by Corinna Downes, head administratrix of the CFZ, and the indexing is done by Lee Canty and Kathy Imbriani. There is regular news from the CFZ Mystery Cat study group, and regular fortean bird news from 'The Watcher of the Skies'. Regular bloggers include Dr Karl Shuker, Dale Drinnon, Richard Muirhead and Richard Freeman.The CFZ bloggo is updated daily, and there's nothing quite like it anywhere else. Come and join us...

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Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Tristate Bigfoot Study Group to meet at lodge; everyone is invited

http://www.daily-jeff.com/local%20news/2012/03/28/bigfoot-study-group-to-meet-at-lodge-everyone-is-invited
Published: March 28, 2012 1:00PM

The Tri-State Bigfoot Study Group is scheduled to meet at 7 p.m. March 31 in the "Stone House" meeting room at Salt Fork Lodge. The meeting is open to the public and there is no charge to attend.

Group founder Don Keating will discuss at least three separate incidents of alleged track discoveries in eastern Ohio since Jan. 1. Photos will be shown of at least two of those three discoveries.

There will also be discussion of the "2012 Ohio Bigfoot Conference" which is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. April 29 at the Pritchard Laughlin Civic Center on U.S. Route 40 just west of Cambridge. For complete details on the event go online to www.ohiobigfootconference.com and click the links.

For additional details on the March 31 meeting contact Don Keating via email at eobic@yahoo.com or by telephone at 740-680-4542.

I TRIED HARD TO THINK OF A BASIL BRUSH JOKE TO GO HERE

Everything I am doing at the moment seems to involve canids. I am still struggling through the blue dog book, we are in the process of starting a project about the reed wolf in Hungary, and even my favourite webcomic is mostoly about mystickal doggies. Now, thanks to Bob Skinner, and Serena Cairns, I have heard about another rare canid...



RICHARD ON THE RADIO

Tune in to The ALL NEW KTPF Community show with Susanne and Steve Taggart starts tonight at 8pm http://www.spookyradio.spruz.com/

Join Susanne and Steve for their KTPF show with interviews with different teams and people within all aspects of the Paranormal.

On the show this week, we have Cryptozoologist Richard Freeman on the show talking about his latest books and adventures. Plus Paul Reid telling us about Battlefield Paranormal - the UK's largest Paranormal Event of 2012

With LIVE interactive chat plus news of the events around the UK as advertised free on Paranormal Events 4U.So why not pop in and say hello, as we encourage you to share information, advice and most importantly - Friendship.Meet new people, chat with friends and participate in a group discussion as we talk about all things Paranormal.

All we need now is you - Remember, this is your show - So Get Involved.Every Wednesday night at 8pm GMT on the NEW KTPF (Keeping the Paranormal Friendly) Show only on Spooky Radio...

KTPF ~ Where Membership is Just a Smiling Face

We look forward to meeting you

MYSTERY CAT NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD



While neck of one big cat was broken, paw of another one had fracture, Singh said. "The post mortem report has revealed that the two big cats died about for days back, due to which the reason of their death could not be ascertained," the officer said.



A four-year Ontario study confirms what many rural residents felt sure about: cougars are again living.



These big cats are elusive, reclusive, mostly nocturnal, do not like light and when spotted move like the wind. Getting a photo of one of these cats is not only very ...




By KENNEDY GORDON Examiner Staff Writer

It was a big cat of some kind, says James Anderson, owner of Phoenix Organs on Drummond Line just southeast of the city. Anderson was working in his shop, where he builds custom organs, when he and several other ...




But the officials remained suspicious whether there's truth to the big cat sighting because of a lack of evidence. The Waunakee Tribune this week reported the state Department of Natural Resources had confirmed a local cougar sighting, after someone ...


BIG CAT NEWS: Whitby and a quiz

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


Readers report sightings of big black cat and UFO
Whitby Today
On 29 February Caroline Russell, wife of Whitby lifeboat coxswain Mike Russell, said she spotted a large black “creature” at the rear of her Sandsend home. She said that she was in her back garden with her two Labradors named Dipper and Tig, ...


Only one story today, but our intern, the irrepressable Saska, is apparently a 'Black Panther', according to this internet quiz...


http://www.blogthings.com/whatbigcatareyouquiz/



SASKIA THE CFZ INTERN WRITES:

Jon posted this picture earlier which was a picture of a strange creature which had been found washed up on the banks of St. Johns River in Jacksonville Florida.

After doing research I discovered that the dental formula for the corpse was the same as a otter dental formula, but this didn’t bring me to a full conclusion of what species of otter it was. So I did more research and noticed the only species of otter to be found around Florida was the North American river otter. Also the ears are short and the neck has the same diameter of its head.

The corpse had three incisors, one canine, four pre-molars and one molar for the top half of the mouth, making the formula 3:1:4:1. For the bottom half of the mouth was three incisors, one canine, three pre-molars and two molars which makes the formula 3:1:3:2.

It was hard to come to a full conclusion as the corpse was so dismantled, the people who had tried to arrange the corpse obviously didn’t know what they were doing as the scapular seems to appear as webbed feet.

HAUNTED SKIES: Sunday Mirror 00.9.66.


OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today

http://cryptozoologynews.blogspot.com/


On this day in 1974 NASA’s Mariner 10 probe becomes the first spacecraft to fly past Mercury.

And now the news:


Extinct frog rediscovered in Burundi
Another species declared extinct from the Hawaiian...
Call for ban on sky lanterns and balloon release i...
Environmentalists and oil companies form rare rela...
Hammerhead Shark Double Whammy
Saving Habitat Key to Songbird's Survival
Disappointment after rare feathers stolen
James Cameron Begins Descent to Ocean's Deepest Po...
Deep-sea diversity surprises researchers
Some Gulf Dolphins Severely Ill After Gulf Oil Spi...
Rare Charles Darwin books at Keys’ Aylsham auction...
Titanoboa: New York's Grand Central Terminal Displ...
Leadbeater's possum faces 'managed extinction' wit...
John Gould's The Birds of Europe expected to bring...
New scorpion species found in California

A video of Mercury:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3V2ecJpscI&ob=av2e

A FROGGE ON A PLESIOSAUR

A dude called Robert Frogge writes:

What if conclusive evidence surfaced that proved the monster of Loch Ness did exist... but it turned out to be a giant eel or fish instead of a plesiosaur? The simple truth is we would feel disappointed and cheated.

Well no, personally, I wouldn't. I have thought it was a giant eel for about 35 years. But don't listen to me, read what else Robert has to say:

EMMA HAS JUST ACQUIRED FOUR BUDGIES

...and for some reason Matthew wants to call three of them Peter, Paul and Mary. There is nothing else to say to that.

I'M SURE THERE IS A PERFECTLY GOOD EXPLANATION FOR THESE WEIRD FEET...BUT WHAT IS IT

RICHARD MUIRHEAD: Possible identity of Pennlyne flying snakes

This is not really a blog , more like a request for opinions really – A couple of months ago I thought of a possible identity for the flying snakes said to haunt the Pennlyn Castle area of S.Wales – peacocks. This is because these flying snakes were said to be bejewelled rather like the brilliance of the peacocks feathers and also because of the snake-like appearance of the peacocks neck. I know it’s a long shot, but...

What do you thinks? Also, in Britain at least, the peacock has been kept as a pet, perhaps at one point they were kept as pets at the Castle? The peacock was definitely known about in the West long before the 19th century.

Rich

WATCHER OF THE SKIES: black grouse, woodcock, tawny owl


As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time
Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men
and a regular segmenton 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...


Leks have a look at black grouse numbers rise inWales
Welsh black grouse (Tetrao tetrix) numbers are on therise. However, this increase is only tobe found on those areas managed by the RSBP. The black grouse is one of the UK’s most endangered birds, once a commonsight on grass and moorland all over the country. Their numbers fell dramatically, there being25,000 breeding pairs in 1970 and just 5,000 by 2005, presumably due to theencroachment of housing into the countryside and more intensive farmingmethods. But in Wales the bird’spopulation may have trebled over the last 15 years.
Picture: RSPB


RSPB Cymru's head of biodiversity Stephen Bladwell said: "Thebreeding season is between mid-March and mid-May.
"During those times the male birds put on elaborate courting ritualscalled leks, where they puff out their throats and tails, make distinctivecalls and dance to attract females."
"That obviously makes them much easier to count. Whilst the hensusually remain camouflaged, we can count the cocks, and estimate the overallpopulation from that."
"We've been successful in working with farmers and other agenciesto help create the sort of environments where they thrive - moorland wildernessareas with supplies of their favourite foods, fresh heather shoots and varioussmall berries."
"We've also had a couple of dry Junes, which is essential inhelping to reduce chick mortality and introduce new blood into the followingyear's breeding pool."
But he warned that the black grouse is still far from safe.
In Scotland the black grouse population has also rallied, with someexperts now calling for Welsh and Scottish birds to be cross-bred in order tobroaden the gene pool and prevent localised diseases and conditions

‘Satnav’ system to track the dwindling woodcockpopulations
The woodcock (Scolopax rusticola) isScotland’s most secretive bird and its numbers fell by around 86% between 1970and 2007. The wader migrates to northern Europe and Russia to breed each yearand this year The Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust is going to usesatellite technology to follow 12 woodcocks on their migration.
However, it doeshave to be noted that the woodcock can be hunted in Scotland, apart from Sundaysand Christmas Day that is. The samerules apply for England and Wales too apparently.
“Perhaps the most immediate result of thisproject would be a dialogue in Europe about bag limits and sustainability inshooting,” said Dr Andrew Hoodless of the Game & Wildlife ConservationTrust. “We’re not advocating voluntary bans or some sort of restriction onhunting at this stage but it’s something we may look at in the future.”
There is currentlyno limit on the number of woodcocks that can be hunted in the UK, although somelimits exist in other European countries including France, Italy and Portugal.Between three and four million woodcocks are hunted each year across Europe.
Photo: Wikipedia


Woodcocks aresecretive birds that are rarely spotted in the wild. Hoodless said: “I amconvinced that by following our 12 satellite tagged birds we will soon havesome revealing insights into the migration strategies of woodcocks acrossEurope.
“This informationis essential for sound conservation management of the species as well as beingof fascination to us all.”
He added that theproject is hoping to expand the number of birds it monitors over the next year.
“We are looking totag a further 20 woodcocks over the next two winters to ensure a scientificallyvalid analysis,” Hoodless said. “Woodcocks generally live for three to fouryears so we’re hoping that with some of the birds we will be able to followthem for several seasons and watch their repeated migratory patterns.”
To follow the birdson their journeys log on to www.woodcockwatch.com

Tawnyowls
According to the South Nottinghamshire Ringing Groupblogspot, a tawny owl was found sitting on four eggs on 10th January this year in thecounty! And it is very unusual to find these birds breeding that early in theyear. You can read more about thisdiscovery at: http://southnottsringinggroup.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/very-early-tawny-owl.html



HAUNTED SKIES: Sun (The) 21.9.66

OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today



On this day in 1960 the actor Chris Barrie was born. Barrie is best known for the roles of Arnold Rimmer in the Sci-fi comedy Red Dwarf, Gordan Brittas in the Brittas Empire and as Hilary in the Tomb Raider films.
And now the news:

Sea Monster Washes Ashore in SC
Sport hunting lion and leopard? Baited hunts and h...
Bigfoot trip leader forgets one thing, a park perm...
Largest Hailstone Confirmed in Hawaii
Possible new lead in Peking Man fossils mystery
In Wild Winter, Citizen Scientists See Where and W...

A collection of humorous clips from the Brittas Empire: