WELCOME TO THE CFZ BLOG NETWORK: COME AND JOIN THE FUN

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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Thursday, March 06, 2014

CRYPTOLINK: Texas Man Photographs What He Believes to Be a Chupacabra

A word about cryptolinks: we are not responsible for the content of cryptolinks, which are merely links to outside articles that we think are interesting (sometimes for the wrong reasons), usually posted up without any comment whatsoever from me. 

However, on this occasion, I will make an exception. Recently there have been quite a few stories featuring mangy coyotes, and I have got bored with posting them up. But if you look on the bottom photograph, you can see the 'pad' on its buttocks which, in 2010, we discovered seems to be diagnostic of male blue dogs. As regular readers will know, the blue dog preserved by Phyllis Canion proved to be a hybrid of coyote and Mexican wolf, which as there are no known Mexican wolves nearer than Arkansas, raises some interesting questions...



Out of all the legendary cryptids, the Chupacabra is the one most often sighted, and the famed 'goat sucker' has been blamed for everything from destroying vehicles to devouring livestock. Though they've been spotted all around the world over the years, it's a recent string of sightings in Texas that has many staying in their homes, and one man believes that he's captured several photographs of the elusive creature.

As we spotted over on Roadtrippers, Scott Black spotted the strange dog-like animal roaming around his backyard, which he says was chasing a terrified raccoon. Not only are the creature's footprints visible in the backyard of his Texas home, but he also managed to conduct a little photo shoot, unbeknownst to the mangy mut. "It had big, long, pointy ears. Long tail, had no fur," says Black, "but on its skin you could see splotches of gray and splotches of raw skin."



Animal experts believe that this and other recently spotted 'Chupacabras' are actually the result of crossbreeding, between domesticated dogs and coyotes. The hybrid animals are allegedly being created for the sole purpose of making locals think that they've spotted the infamous Chupacabra.- 

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, so we are publishing a regular round-up of the stories as they come in. 

The worldwide mystery cat phenomenon (or group of phenomena, if we are to be more accurate) is not JUST about cryptozoology. At its most basic level it is about the relationship between our species and various species of larger cat. That is why sometimes you will read stories here that appear to have nothing to do with cryptozoology but have everything to do with human/big cat interaction. As committed Forteans, we believe that until we understand the nature of these interactions, we have no hope of understanding the truth that we are seeking. 


  • NEWSLINK: Counting Tigers by Their Stripes
  • USA SIGHTING: Mountain lion sighting reported in s...
  • NEWSLINK: Notorious poaching tribe pulls wool over...
  • NEWSLINK: Forest officials track big cat through r...


  • VIDEO: Lions Exiled in the Wild - Full Documentary..


  • BIGFOOT NEWS IN BRIEF



    Jim Six: A beast of our own -- the Jersey Devil
    It has recently come to my attention that there's a man named Rick Dyer who has more than once purported to display the remains of Bigfoot. I think the 

    Meet The Dupont Circle Bigfoot: Aaron DeNu
    It also produced a Bigfoot, or rather a man in a Bigfoot suit, sighting. Like the shirtless man in a horse mask during Hurricane Sandy, Bigfoot was a nice 

    Fringe News: Bigfoot in Montana, Huge Sasquatch Caught on Video ... - Bigfoot Evidence - Blogger
    Bigfoot Evidence Shawn
    Join Rev. Jeff for a look at all of the Bigfoot news of the week, like Bigfoot spotted in Montana with Mark Anders, and more on the Hank the Bigfoot ...

    Has the Patterson-Gimlin bigfoot film been proven to be a hoax yet? - LetsRun.com
    There's a National Geographic "Is It Real" episode on this. You can buy it off iTunes. Goes over this and other bigfoot hoaxes. But, yes, there was a lot ...

    Purported Sasquatch tracks found on Vancouver Island
    Last year, two videos claiming to depict Sasquatch encounters in Mission went viral online, though Bigfoot experts doubted their authenticity.

    Bigfoot Evidence: Watch: The Coolest Bigfoot Costume Ever!
    Bigfoot Evidence Matt K.
    We LOVE bigfoot movies, and this could possibly be the coolest bigfoot costume of them all. Patrick Magee of Magee FX goes behind the 

    FORTEAN BIRD NEWS FROM THE WATCHER OF THE SKIES


    What has Corinna's column of fortean bird news got to do with Cryptozoology?

    Well, everything actually!

    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. 







    THE GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN IS SWEET ENOUGH

    The Gonzo Daily - Thursday
     
    I was supposed to be going to London this weekend, but I have so much stuff to do here, I really didn't want to leave Woolsery until I had caught up with myself. I seem to have been chasing my tail for weeks now, and I need a breather. So I was very pleased when I was told by the person organising the event that we were filming that they only wanted one cameraperson. So, Graham (who enjoys travelling more than I do) is going in my stead, and I shall be at home with the animals and various people in my extended family. I have spent much of the last few days listening to Tim Blake's New Jerusalem and kicking myself that I hadn't remembered what a bloody super record it is.
     
    Back in my student days I first saw the movie 'Animals House', and spent the rest of my student days trying to emulate these people. Then, after my divorce in 1996 I did much the same, and I was in the second half of my forties before I stopped behaving like one of the characters in the film, and with my health in tatters, finally settled down. I had vaguely realised that the movie was based upon the experiences that one of the writers had in college.
     
    Last week Harold Ramis died, and I was convinced that he had been the writer in question. So in one of my maudlin moods I looked him up on Wikipedia, found that he wasn't, but that someone called Chris Miller (who - as far as I am aware is still alive - was. And furthermore he had written a book about it. I ordered it, and yesterday read it in one sitting. It is massively entertaining, but one of the most interesting things in it was that the social group that was lampooned (oooh) as Delta House, had become depraved party animals in the first half of the 1950s when it was mostly inhabited by ex-American soldiers who had come back from the Korean War suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and as a result ran amok, starting a tradition which carried on for nearly a decade. From a purely sociological point of view that is very interesting, or at least it interests me. And it makes me wonder what psychological guidelines (if any) are in place now to stop such things happening now.
     
    THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: William of Wykeham (who died in 1404) is supposed to have been the first to have said that "Manners Maketh Man", but it was one of my fathers favourite quotes, and unlike some of his watchwords, this is one that I have always tried to take on board. If manners do indeed maketh man, I suspect that some of the people with whom I have been dealing over the last week or so are probably eunuchs.
     
    Mike and Kate Westbrook Concerts Guildhall Jazz Festival
    http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2014/03/mike-and-kate-westbrook-concerts.html
     
     
     
     
    RICK WAKEMAN DOUBLES HIS ‘JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH' Tour
    http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2014/03/rick-wakeman-doubles-his-journey-to.html
     
     

    This weekend's issue of Gonzo Weekly is underway, with lots of Rick Wakeman stuff, a Tim Blake interview and a report on The Musical Box amongst other things.
     
    The current issue features Hawkwind, Hawkwind, and some more Hawkwind, plus exclusive interviews with two musical legends - Keith Levene (ex-PiL and The Clash) and Judy Dyble (founder member of Fairport Convention and the band that was later to become King Crimson), plus stories on Mike Rutherford, Acid Mothers Temple, Devo, Paul Whitrow, and the world premiere of new videos by Auburn and Galahad, and more news, reviews, views, interviews and packets of long nosed potoroos (OK, no special rabbit-sized macropodiformes, especially in convenient packaging) but I got carried away with things that rhymed with OOOOS) than you can shake a stick at. And the best part is IT's ABSOLUTELY FREE!!!
     
    To make sure that you don't miss your copy of this and future issues make an old hippy a happy chappy and subscribe
    http://eepurl.com/r-VTD
     
     
    PS: If you are already a subscriber but think that you haven't been receiving your copies please check your spam filters. For some reason known only to the Gods of the internet, some e-mail programmes automatically count the magazine as 'spam' probably because it comes from a mass mailer. Either that or they are just jealous of our peerless content
     

    *  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: www.gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/11/all-gonzo-news-wots-fit-to-print.html
     
    * We should probably mention here, that some of our posts are links to things we have found on the internet that we think are of interest. We are not responsible for spelling or factual errors in other people's websites. Honest guv!

    *  Jon Downes, the Editor of all these ventures (and several others) is an old hippy of 54 who - together with his orange cat (who is currently on sick leave in Staffordshire) and two very small kittens (one of whom is also orange) puts it all together from a converted potato shed in a tumbledown cottage deep in rural Devon which he shares with various fish, and sometimes a small Indian frog. He is ably assisted by his lovely wife Corinna, his bulldog/boxer Prudence, his elderly mother-in-law, and a motley collection of social malcontents. Plus.. did we mention the orange cat?

    CRYPTOLINK: Fringe News - Bigfoot - Who Believes This S#!t

    A word about cryptolinks: we are not responsible for the content of cryptolinks, which are merely links to outside articles that we think are interesting (sometimes for the wrong reasons), usually posted up without any comment whatsoever from me. 

    WALLY THE COMEDY RHINOCEROS: Yesterday's News Today

    Oll is away so for today Yesterday's News Today is done by Wally the Comedy Rhinoceros. He is a stand-up comedian of some renown. Here is one of his rhino-related jokes.

    Q: What does a rhino do when it is broke? 

    A: He looks for glue.

    Ha Ha! That was funny. Sidesplitting. Yes. Ha!

    Now for the news....


  • What makes flying snakes such gifted gliders?
  • What bat brains might tell us about human brains
  • Live fast, die young strategy spawned Amazon tree ...
  • Nepal celebrates zero poaching year
  • Iguanas Have Oldest Reptilian Sex Chromosome
  • Vietnam Prime Minister tackles wildlife crime
  • Satellites track turtle 'lost years'

  • Red-Seeing Fish, Blue-Seeing Fish: Deep-Sea Vision...

  • And now for a happy tune that you can whistle while you work: