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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Unlike some of our competitors we are not going to try and blackmail you into donating by saying that we won't continue if you don't. That would just be vulgar, but our lives, and those of the animals which we look after, would be a damn sight easier if we receive more donations to our fighting fund. Donate via Paypal today...




Saturday, July 19, 2014

THEY ARE NOT THE FIRST ENGLISH BEAVERS FOR OVER 500 YEARS BUT THE CAMPAIGN IS SOUND

38 Degrees Logo
Dear Jonathan,

There’s a new campaign taking off near you and we thought you might be interested. 38 Degrees member Castor has started a petition calling on the government to save the beavers in the River Otter in Devon. [1]

These are the first wild beavers to be spotted in England for over 500 years, but the Department for the Environment wants to capture them and put them in a zoo.

The petition is growing fast and over 9000 people have already signed. If you also want to pressure the government to leave the beavers alone, you can sign here:

SIGN THE PETITION
Here’s what Castor says:

"The beaver is the most important, formerly native, animal to Britain that could create landscapes that protect our native plants and animals.

The beaver was hunted to extinction and we have a duty to bring them back to our rivers. The effects of beavers will improve water quality, reduce flooding and help turn our river banks back into wildlife havens."

Click here to sign the petition now:

SIGN THE PETITION

If you disagree with Castor's campaign, or there's another issue close to your heart, you can start your own campaign here: https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/visit-cby

KARL SHUKER: Creepy Creations and Cryptozoology


Karl Shuker unveils some monstrous artwork that helped to inspire his passion for cryptozoology as a youngster.

Read on...

BIGFOOT NEWS IN BRIEF



Friday, July 18, 2014
Hey Lyle, I was reading your excellent blog and was surprised by the number of bigfoot related movies I never knew were out there. It seems that most 

Watch This Video Do Bigfoot Raise and Herd Elk Like Cattle?
According to cryptozoologist JC Johnson, bigfoot herd elk. Furry People, as Johnson calls them, raise elk from the time they are babies, and then herd ...

Two Fishermen Get the Bigfoot Fright of Their Lives (Video)
“On Friday, July 11 at around 7pm, two fishermen were fishing on and around the property of Gayle Beatty, Lead Investigator with Bigfoot Researchers 

The Return of Monster X Radio Podcast
This Sunday they are having Bigfoot researcher Tracy Arnold on the show. Tracy is from Virginia and has had several Bigfoot encounters over 

James Hayes Bigfoot Structures or Dead Trees
A little bigfoot research from James Hayes. Sasquatch Hangout in Central FL. Related Posts. James Hayes: On the Hunt with the Go Pro · Sasquatch

Bigfoot Tree Structures in Flagstaff, Arizona
Enhancement of bigfoot, yeti, sasquatch or person? ... Say What You Will. «Next Post The Story Of Ape Canyon, The Famous Bigfoot Attack

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 DISLIKES FLUFFY BUNNIES

The Gonzo Daily - Saturday
www.gonzomultimedia.co.uk/about.html

And once again it is stupid o’clock in the morning, but for once we are not just up putting the finishing touches on this week’s issue of Gonzo Weekly.  We are also awaiting the imminent arrival of my beloved step-daughter Shoshannah.  She has some days off work and would rather spend them with mama and step-papa than by herself in Staffordshire and who can blame her?
The latest issue of Gonzo Weekly (#87) will soon be available to read or download at www.gonzoweekly.com. It has Daevid Allen on the front cover an an article about the Glissando Orchestra's healing Drones for Daevid which seem to have worked miraculous results. It also includes an exclusive interview with Harry Williamson on the subject. Elsewhere in the issue Doug Harr interviews the founding members of Brand X and Erik Norlander gives us a very generous present.  There are also new shows from the wonderfully eccentric Jaki and Tim on their Submarine, and from the multi-talented Neil Nixon at Strange Fruit and a collection of more news, reviews, views, interviews and toads with booze (OK, no alcoholic anurans, 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!!!
Read the previous few issues of Gonzo Weekly:
All issues from #70 can be downloaded at www.gonzoweekly.com if you prefer. If you have problems downloading, just email me and I will add you to the Gonzo Weekly dropbox. The first 69 issues are archived there as well. Information is power chaps, we have to share it!
To make sure that you don't miss your copy of future issues make an old hippy a happy chappy and subscribe
http://eepurl.com/r-VTD

*  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 an orange kitten named after a song by Frank Zappa 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 kitten?

WEST VIRGINIA DANGEROUS WILD ANIMALS ACT

USARK has remained active in West Virginia after the passing of their Dangerous Wild Animals Act. The final proposed list of animals has been presented and includes thousands of species. The 5 page list includes entire Orders and Families, rather than just single species. Common pets on the list include all Tetra fish, hamsters (only one species is excluded), hedgehogs, all turtles and tortoises (except WV native species), all salamanders and newts, ferrets, all Goby fish, Sugar gliders and many more. The list can be viewed at www.usark.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/WV-DWA-List-and-Comment.pdf. Pet keepers with these species will be subject to a $100 annual permit per animal, among other restrictions.

USARK will provide updates, letters, FAQ and more on the dedicated page located at www.usark.org/2014-blog/west-virginia-dwa/.

It would take 64 pages to list individually all the reptile and amphibian species proposed to be banned by WV Prop. Rule 61-30. (That's on 8.5" x 11" paper, single spaced, small font, with one line for the scientific and common name for each species). There are 1008 reptiles and 2185 amphibians included in the proposed ban. Reptiles and amphibians occupy less than 20% of the space on the proposed list. The list also includes broad scientific categories of birds, crayfish, snails, fish and mammals.

This fight continues and the 30 day comment period began last week (as we announced on Facebook 
HERE). Please join the group at www.facebook.com/pages/WV-Chapter-of-USARC/747291521995383 for frequent updates.

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