BIGFOOT ON FLYER FOR SPAM MUSEUM

Unexpected sighting of the Patterson bigfoot image which turned up in my e-mail inbox today courtesy of those jolly nice folks on the forteana Usenet list. This is a bona fide flyer for the Spam Museum...

And it had the advantage of making me laugh.

OLL LEWIS: Yesterday’s News Today

http://cryptozoologynews.blogspot.com/

It’s cryptozoology news update time once more and also film of the week day. Well, yesterday I offered the opportunity to guess today’s film recommendation based on the song of the week. I have been literally underwhelmed by the response, either that or there are still a few comments in the moderation queue, oh well. Anyway, the film was not ‘Back to the future’ as some people may have guessed, but is ‘American Psycho’. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0144084/ (not suitable for a jolly family film night instead of ‘Lilo & Stitch’ by the way). And here is the news:

Hero mutt protects dog buddy from traffic onslaught
Police in Michigan looking for a cougar find a toy
World's tallest dog loses a leg
New 'super rats' evolve resistance to poison
Bird given own private Indonesian beach
Woman seeks love for randy emu
Seahorse nursed back to health after seagull dropped it in garden
Meet the real star of Cannes: Midge the one-eyed cat from Yorkshire with a passion for sprinting
Meet the lawnmower on legs: Why wallabies are taking over England's gardens in leaps and bounds
Hedgehog hunter applications flood in

Why did the hedgehog cross the road?
To visit his flat-mate.

(yes, the old ones are always the best)

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.’