RICHARD FREEMAN:Strange Tales from Herodotus Part 4

GIANT, GOLD DIGGING, CAMEL EATING ANTS

One of the oddest things Herodotus heard of on his travels were stories of giant ants.

“There are other Indians further north, round the city of Caspatyrus and in the country of Pactyica, who in their mode of life resemble the Bactrians. These are the most warlike of the Indian tribes, and it is they who go out to fech the gold-for in this region is a sandy desert. There is found in this desert a kind of ant of great size - bigger than a fox, though not so big as a dog. Some specimens that were caught there, are kept at the palace of the Persian king. These creatures as hey burrow underground throw up sand in heaps, just as ants in Greece throw up the earth, and are very similar in shape. The sand has a rich content of gold, and this it is that the Indians are after when they make their expeditions into the desert. Each man harnesses here camels abreast, a female, on which he rides, in the middle, and a male on each side in a leading rein, and takes care that the female is one who has as recently as possible dropped her young.

That, then, is how these Indians equip themselves for the expedition, and they plan their time table so as to actually get their hands on the gold during the hottest part of the day, when the heat will have driven the ants underground. In this part of the world the sun is not, as it is elsewere, hottest at noon, but in the morning: from dawn, that is, until the closing time in the market. During this part of the day the heat is much fiercer than it is at noon in Greece, and the natives are said to soak themselves in water to make it endurable. At midday the heat diminishes and it is much the same here as elsewere, and as the afternoon goes on, it becomes cooler and cooler, until at sunset it is really cold.

When the Indians reach the place where the gold is’ they fill the bags they have brought with them with sand, and start for home as fast as they can go; for the ant (as it is said in the Persians’ story) smell them and at once give chase; nothing in the world can touch these ants for speed, so not one of the Indians would get home alive, if they did not make sure of a good start while he ants were mustering their forces. The male camels, who are slower than the females, soon begin to drag and are left behind, one after the other, while the females are kept going hard by the memory of their young, who were left at home.”

It has been suggested that the ‘ants’ were in fact marmots, burrowing rodents related to prairie dogs, who inhabit the area. However marmots are not known for their aggresiveness and are not larger than foxes (unless you are comparing a woodchuck with a fennec). He story may have been concocted by local people to keep other away from the gold bearing area in a ‘Scooby Doo’ style.

CFZ PEOPLE: Stuart Rickard

Stuart Rickard, next door neighbout of the CFZ for the last four years, and of Jon's parents for many years before that is gravely ill. Many of you will have met him at last year's Weird Weekend when he appeared on stage talking about the energy-saving strategies of the Woolsery Community Centre, including its wind turbine.

A benefit concert on his behalf is being held there tonight, if anyone in the area would like to go along. Sadly, Jon is too ill to go, let alone sing.

Our thoughts and prayers go to him, his wife Margeret, and to his family and friends at this time. God Bless mate.

THE BIG THREE: Retrieverman

A FEW WEEKS AGO WE ASKED VARIOUS BLOGGO REGULARS TO TELL US WHAT WERE THEIR TOP THREE FAVOURITE MYSTERY ANIMALS... AND WHY

This is a slight departure in the Big Three series, because someone has taken our idea and run with it. And that, after all, is what this should be all about and all so often isn't. Scotty over at the Wildlife Mysteries blog has done his own Big Three, and we are so impressed we have decided to link to it..

http://wildlifemysteries.wordpress.com/2009/05/04/my-big-three/

RICHARD HOLLAND: A Sneak Preview

The forthcoming issue of Paranormal Magazine has just been 'put to bed' as we editors saucily have it, and although the current issue, which includes Richard Freeman's absorbing article on monsters in urban environments, will be on sale for a couple more weeks yet, I thought you might enjoy this sneak-peak.

Richard's latest article is a guide to organising your own monster hunt, one which I'm sure will inspire a lot of readers. I've been working with the Illustration Department of our local university and took the opportunity to ask one of the students, a talented cartoonist called Steph Murta, to come up with some amusing pics to go with it. I sent Steph a photo or two of Richard so that she could include him in the illos. I hope the following, which is accompanied by a quote from Richard's piece ('I have travelled the globe trying to track down beasts of legend'), will make you chuckle. I think Steph has captured the essence of the man! (Though I'm not sure what those things are creeping up to his left - monster sperm?)

Paranormal Magazine issue 37 will be out on May 29 and will also include a fascinating article by Dr Karl Shuker on 'Nightmares of the Dreamtime'.

Richard Holland. http://www.paranormalmagazine.co.uk/ / http://www.uncannyuk.co.uk/

NEIL ARNOLD: Crypto Stories From The Illustrated Police News Part 2

I have known Neil for fifteen years now since he was a schoolboy with ambitions for adventure and I was an earnest young hippie who merely wanted to start a club for people interested in unknown animals. Nothing much has changed over the years. We are just both a tad older...

From 1876 – MURDEROUS ATTACK BY A GORILLA: ‘A brief report has reached us of a fearful adventure at Famber. It appears that Madame Cartinet and her sister Mdlle Proche, wife and sister in law of an African merchant, have been residing at the above named place for some weeks past. M. Cartinet was always away in the day-time and indeed for some days in succession. Mdlle Proche and her sister occupied the same sleeping apartment during the absence of the latter’s husband and had just finished their toilettes when the window of the room was flung open to admit a monstrous gorilla. The hideous monster rummaged through the drawers and eventually laid hold of a razor which he flourished and chattered in evident delight. He sprang suddenly forward and attacked Mdlle Proche, the poor lady struggling to free herself from her assailant. The gorilla inflicted severe wounds on the throat and neck of his victim who had by this time fainted from loss of blood.

A gentleman, a soldier, went to the assistance of the two ladies, having been aroused by the piercing screams of both ladies. Upon arriving at the scene the terrible situation of the inmates of the room became apparent. The soldier levelled his revolver and fired three times in rapid succession. The gorilla fell at the third shot and died some few hours afterwards. The ladies wounds were treated and it is hoped they will not prove fatal. This, however, it is not possible to tell at the present.’

DAVID MARSHALL: The Ryedale Aquarist Society Open Show

The CFZ Alliance is basically a coalition of many disparate organisations and people who are basically batting for the same side, and who have basically the same philosphy regarding the importance of Natural History, and the fascination of Cryptozoology. Today, for the first time, I am happy to introduce you to an old compadre of mine - David Marshall

On Sunday 26th April seasoned and novice Aquarists’ alike travelled from many corners of the U.K. in order to join the members of the Ryedale Aquarist Society for their annual aquarium fish Open Show, which was held at the Kirkbymoorside Memorial Hall.

This year the event was split into two sections.

The first of these was a full Open Show with 45 Classes covering the full range of tropical freshwater and coldwater fish. 20 families brought along a total of 180 fish, many of which were of an extremely high standard, and these were judged to Y.A.A.S. rules and standards.

The main results were as follows: -
Best in Show - Mr. B. O’ Neill (Workington Aquarist Society) with a Humpbacked limia.
Best Exhibit - Mr. Mark Walters (Castleford A.S.)
Best goldfish - Mr. N. Swales (STAMPS)
Junior Award - Miss A. Charters (STAMPS)

The second section consisted of a Guppy only show that formed part of the British Livebearer Association Guppy Section Show League. A total of 40 fish were entered in the 3 Classes. BLA Judges judged to their own rules and standards.

The Class winners were as follows:-
Broad tail guppy - Mr. S. Elliott
Sword tail guppy - Mr. D. Jordan
Short tail guppy - Mr. M. Clarke

22 families submitted auction ‘lots’ giving Mr. Steve Jones and his auctioneering team a very busy, but enjoyable, afternoon.

The Ryedale members send their thanks to the small army of helpers from both the Y.A.A.S. and T.T.A.A.F.B.A.S. for their wonderful help, to all the exhibitors who brought along their best fish, to the people who brought their auction ‘lots’, aquatic industry and tourist attractions for their generous support, to all our friends who made the journey to be with us and interested visitors from the Ryedale area who came along to view the fish exhibits.

On Sunday 4th October the Society will return to the Kirkbymoorside Memorial Hall to host an Open mini-show and auction of aquatic items. Further details to follow.

OLL LEWIS: The big hairy man of Nant Gwynant

Oll Lewis, the Welsh dude who lives in my spare bedroom, who also happens to be the CFZ ecologist, and Richard's assistant as far as looking after the CFZ menagerie is concerned, is rapidly becoming one of the most popular bloggers on the network.

In the Americas the most searched for cryptid is Bigfoot and its no surprise that BHMs are among the most sighted cryptids there as a result. However in the UK things are quite different, man beasts are hardly ever seen here and if they are they usually end up being attributed to either a trick of the light, zooform phenomena or misidentification. Besides Britain just doesn’t have the enormous wilderness areas that America and Canada do, colonies of big cats might be able to hide themselves but large hairy ape-men would find that task considerably more difficult. Well, one bit of Folklore from North Wales tells the story of a British BHM and how he, for some time, evaded capture and detection.

Villagers in Nant Gwynant in North Wales have long told a story about how a cave in the valley came to be named. Long ago villagers and shepherds in the area were plagued by a thief that would break into their homesteads. They would awaken to find that their goats and cows had been milked, food had been stolen and the best sheep taken during the night. This went on for some years and every time anyone laid a trap for the thief it never took the bait and the finger of popular suspicion passed from ne’er-d’-well to ne’er-d’-well with each suspect’s guilt eventually being disproved.

One day a shepherd was returning from the mountains later than usual and spotted something strange; a huge burley naked man covered from head to toe in thick red fur was resting on a neighbouring hill. The shepherd suspected that this out of place and strangely hirsute giant might be the thief that was plaguing the village so the shepherd snuck past the man without being detected and ran back to the village as soon as he was out of sight.

When he reached Nant Gwynant he rounded up all the available men and they hatched a hasty plot to catch the hairy giant. Unfortunately, because it would seem this plan involved running at the hairy man and shouting loudly whist brandishing makeshift weapons this plan was, not surprisingly, unsuccessful.

The hairy man bounded off on all-fours leaping over obstacles with the skill and precision of a dear.

A watch was kept on the area over the coming weeks to see if the hairy man would return, and he did a few days later. Because the previous plan had failed the villagers decided to loose their dogs on the hairy man instead, however this also proved unsuccessful when the man bounded off with a hare-like speed.

The villagers despaired that they’d ever catch the man, as he was too fast for even their dogs to catch, and one man came up with the idea of consulting a magician. The magician told the villagers to find a red haired greyhound without a single hair of a different colour and this would be able to catch the man. After much searching and bartering with local towns and villages the people of Nant Gwynant found a dog that fitted the bill and proudly took him home. When the villagers next saw the hairy man they were ready with the red greyhound and it was set loose to catch the hairy man. The hairy man escaped again by leaping down a small cliff.

After everything they tried to catch the hairy man had failed the men of the village reluctantly gave up and resigned themselves to the fact that the thefts would continue. However, one woman was so angered by her frequent losses she decided to stay up every night and hide herself in the front room of her farmhouse to wait for when the hairy man decided to pay a visit. Sure enough after a few weeks the hairy man paid a visit to the wrong house and the lady was waiting with a hatchet.

She remained hidden until the man had squeezed his bulky frame halfway though the window before she struck the hairy man with her hatchet. The unexpected blow cleaved off the hairy man’s hand in one blow and he recoiled back out of the window before the woman could smite him with a further whack. The brave woman dashed out of her door, hatchet in hand ready to finish the man off but by the time she had gotten outside he had fled.

When the village awoke the next day and the men learned what had happened they followed the trail of blood the hairy man had left behind to a cave beneath a local waterfall. As the big hairy man was never seen again it was assumed by the villagers that he had died in the cave, so the cave was named ‘the cave of the hairy man’.