CRYPTOZOOLOGY ONLINE: Still on the Track

BIG CAT NEWS: It's a strange and small world

2012-02-13T09:28:00.000-08:00

Skeptic » Doubtful News »
Big cat print found in Calderdale?
The mystery of the Calderdale catbeast took a new turn with the discovery of this huge paw print. It is the second time the big cat – thought to be a black panther ...
Read on...

The peculiar thing here is not that I agree with them - I do. It is the fact that they cite me as the person who originally drew their attention to this case in this very column. Truly it is a small world, and getting smaller.

Although this column is fundamentally about the British alien big cat phenomenon, it is interesting to see how the concept has become part of the mass psyche of the English speaking world. Here are two articles from radically different publications which address ABCs, and demonstrate this unarguable point.

Britton hopes to educate about big cats - News and Gossip - Yahoo ...
Ben Britton hopes that Big Cat Week can educate viewers about the majestic animals and their rapidly declining numbers.
au.tv.yahoo.com/.../britton-hopes-to-educate-about-big-cats/

Are Alien Big Cats stalking your players?
So let's turn to the stranger sort of news that we can find in the real world, and look at what cryptozoologists call Alien Big Cats. After all, every GM should know ...
nevermetpress.com/are-alien-big-cats-stalking-your-players

ANDREW MAY: Words from the Wild Frontier

2012-02-13T05:12:00.000-08:00

News and stories from the remoter fringes of the CFZ blogosphere...

From Nick Redfern's "There's Something in the Woods...":

From Man To Beast — Werewolves and Clinical Lycanthropy...
Bigfoot Gets Bizarre! — If you're bored by the usual sort of Bigfoot story...

From CFZ Australia:

A plea - can you help find missing Jeanett? — Serious news: cryptozoologist Lars Thomas's wife is missing...

From CFZ Canada:

On Being a "Cryptozoologist" — It's not rocket science and it's not pseudoscience...

CFZ PEOPLE: Lars and Jeanett Thomas URGENT!

2012-02-12T16:58:00.000-08:00

Jeanett Thomas (48) is still missing. We repeat what we posted yesterday:

Our old friend Lars Thomas has asked us to post this:

On friday, his wife Jeanett left home. She was only meant to be gone a few hours, but she has disappeared. There has been no contact from her.

Lars has contacted the police, but asks: "Please, if you know, or have heard anything, let me know".

Contact Lars: lars_thomas@msn.com
Or me: jon@eclipse.co.uk

Our thoughts and prayers are with Lars at this terrible time.

The only good thing to come out of all of this, is that it proves (as if any proof were needed) that
I am not guilty of hyperbole when I refer to the 'CFZ Family'. One glance at Lars' Facebook page shows how members of the CFZ Family from all across the globe are not only sending messages of sympathy, but mobilising to spread the word and help to find Lars' missing wife.

Thank you my dears. At the risk of sounding over-mawkish, I am so proud of you lot. Thank You..

KARL SHUKER IN THE GUARDIAN

2012-02-12T16:52:00.000-08:00

http://karlshuker.blogspot.com/2012/02/encyclopaedia-of-new-and-rediscovered.html

DALE DRINNON: Bigfoot/West Indian devils/California's early colonists/Cedar and Willow

2012-02-12T16:19:00.000-08:00

http://frontiersofzoology.blogspot.com/2012/02/chronology-of-recent-bigfoot-shooting.html

http://frontiersofzoology.blogspot.com/2012/02/west-indian-devils-yahus.html

New at the Frontiers of Anthropology:
http://frontiers-of-anthropology.blogspot.com/2012/02/californias-early-colonists-to-channel.html

New on Cedar and Willow:
http://cedar-and-willow.blogspot.com/2012/02/spawn-of-lex-luthor-part-4.html

BTW, I just got a comment on Cedar and Willow saying that "The connections you make are sometimes bizzare but always compelling"

ROBERT SCHNECK: Cepacol sea serpent

2012-02-12T13:04:00.000-08:00

Dear Jon,

I don't know if this commercial has been shown in the UK, but Cepacol
has been using a rather fine animated sea serpent to sell throat
lozenges.

If readers would like to see the whole thing, it is at http://www.cepacol.com/ . Scroll down to "Watch our commercial".

MUIRHEAD`S MYSTERIES:MERMAIDS DELAY RESERVOIR PROJECTS IN ZIMBABWE

2012-02-12T12:23:00.000-08:00

The Metro newspaper published the following story in its edition of February 7th 2012:

Mermaids halting reservoir projects

Terrified workers have refused to finish building two new reservoirs because they claim they are being menaced by mermaids. The long overdue projects are essential if Zimbabwe is to revive its failing agriculture sector but the men refuse to return to the sites near the towns of Gokwe and Mutare. `All the officers I have sent have vowed not to go back there`, said water resources minister Samuel Nkomo. `We even hired whites thinking that our boys did not want to work but they also returned ,` he added. The only way to solve the problem is to brew traditional beer and carry out rites to appease the spirits.`, he said (1)

1. The Metro Feb 7th 2012

P.S There is a video from 1999 titled Mermaid Pools in Zimbabwe but I don`t know if there is a connection to the story above

AN INTERESTING ARTICLE ON AUSTRALIAN SEA SERPENTS

2012-02-12T12:01:00.000-08:00

Sea serpents explore Australia's scenic southern coastline ...
In the winter of 1935, sightings of sea serpents were reported right along the scenic coastline of western Victoria in Australia's chilly southern waters. Following a ...
Read on...

HAUNTED SKIES: Daily Express 6.7.62

2012-02-12T06:18:00.001-08:00

http://hauntedskies.blogspot.com/2012/02/daily-express-6762.html

OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today

2012-02-12T06:14:00.001-08:00

http://cryptozoologynews.blogspot.com/

On this day in 1967 Leonardo da Vinci’s Madrid Codices were rediscovered in the National Library of Spain.

And now the news:

Farmer's spray paint prank raised bird watchers' h...
Caught on camera - Icelandic monster or fishing ne...
Entire genome of Denisovan decoded from finger bon...
How Your Cat Is Making You Crazy
Siblings from India don't expect to marry due to '...
Bear Hibernates in Family's Cabin

In the renaissance everyone in Europe spoke with an American accent and bad lip-syncing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t29fjgvMOW8

CFZ PEOPLE: Lars Thomas URGENT

2012-02-12T05:47:00.001-08:00

Our old friend Lars Thomas has asked us to post this:

On friday, his wife Jeanett left home. She was only meant to be gone a few hours, but she has disappeared. There has been no contact from her.

Lars has contacted the police, but asks: "Please, if you know, or have heard anything, let me know".

Contact Lars: lars_thomas@msn.com

Or me: jon@eclipse.co.uk

Our thoughts and prayers are with Lars at this terrible time.

DALE DRINNON: Neanderthals/Cedar and Willow

2012-02-12T05:19:00.000-08:00

Two new Neanderthal Features on Frontiers of Zoology:

http://frontiers-of-anthropology.blogspot.com/2012/02/neanderthal-genes-survive.html

http://frontiers-of-anthropology.blogspot.com/2012/02/neanderthal-skull-reported-from-kansas.html

And a New addition on Cedar And Willow exploring the identities of The Legion of Super-Pets:

http://cedar-and-willow.blogspot.com/2012/02/supergirl-and-super-pets.html

NEW VIDEO PROVES EXISTENCE OF THYLACINE

2012-02-11T12:04:00.000-08:00

SIMON REAMES SENT ME THIS INTERNET THINGUMYJIG...

2012-02-11T11:47:00.000-08:00

..."Which giveth delight, and hurteth not.

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=tippexperience&annotation_id=annotation_820885&feature=iv

BIGFOOT BEER - I WANT SOME

2012-02-11T06:56:00.000-08:00

Beer of the week: Sierra Nevada Bigfoot
UI The Daily Iowan
The Bigfoot has a medium-heavy body and an alcohol content of 9.6 percent. The brew is mildly sweet with notes of fruit, caramel, and cotton candy. It has a hoppy flavor but the brewers in Chico, Calif., didn't go overboard with the hoppiness.
Read on...

KEN GERHARD HUNTING THE SOUTHERN TEXAS BIGFOOT

2012-02-11T06:48:00.000-08:00

I am very fond of San Antonio in southern Texas. It is probably (together with Salisbury in Wiltshire) my favourite city, and that comes from a man who thinks that his hometown of Bideford in North Devon is a sprawling metyropolis. CFZ cryptodude Ken Gerhard has been studying the bigfoot reports from the area for many years...

Does Big Foot live in Bexar County?
KSAT San Antonio
According to cryptozoologists, it roams the forests of the great Northwest to the brush land of Southwest Texas, it is known to the world as Bigfoot. "I'm very convinced by all the evidence that I've studied for years and years.
Read on...

PS: The picture is me and Ken in San Antonio on St Patrick's Day 2010. It is NOT, repeat NOT, Ken and Bigfoot..

HAUNTED SKIES: Daily Mirror, 16th January 1961

2012-02-11T05:00:00.000-08:00

http://hauntedskies.blogspot.com/2012/02/daily-mirror-16161.html

OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today

2012-02-11T04:59:00.000-08:00

http://cryptozoologynews.blogspot.com/
On this day in 1935 the one of the largest airships ever created the USS Macon crashed off Monterey Bay after only 50 flights.

And now the news:

Jamaica Plain's Own Loch Ness Monster
CAT RELATED STORIES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
THE MYSTERY MONKEY OF TAMPA BAY
Whales not slaves because they are not people, jud...
Continental mosquito with ‘vector’ potential found...
Redder Ladybirds More Deadly, Say Scientists
Rare white Dorcas gazelle and unusual birdlife spo...
Zebra stripes evolved to keep biting flies at bay
Rare slender-billed vulture sighted in Terai
Seas around Canna rich in unusual marine wildlife

“No Ticket”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o39ZuGNaGVg

BIG CAT NEWS: Unlikely stories from Seaford and Tamworth

2012-02-11T04:25:00.000-08:00

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

Big cat shock - panther spends day in Seaford home
Sussex Express
THE Big Cat controversy took a bizarre twist this week with the revelation that a 'panther' spent a day in someone's house. The beast is believed to have sneaked into the home of Ivan and Gemma Sherlow when the door to their home was inadvertently left unlocked.

One might as well start with a freaky one; after all we are the Centre for Fortean Zoology, rather than the Centre for perfectly safe and predictable stories. I don't know what to make of this story as the idea of a rare and elusive big cat wandering into someone's unlocked suburban home does sound extremely unlikely. However, in India and Africa such things have been reported, and if the cat was once a pet, it might well be less worried by the idea of human contact.

However, if this story is true, not only was the door "inadvertantly" left unlocked, but it was left open as well, unless this sagacious felid has learned to tackle doorknobs. If so, then someone should perhaps contact Rupert Sheldrake.

The best line in the story was: "While she locked herself in the bedroom, he sought out his shillelagh – a traditional Irish club – and investigated the house. He found nothing."

Hmmmmm.

Moving swiftly on...

I saw the big cat and a UFO
This is Tamworth
WALKING through Wigginton Park in the weekend's snow, I noticed a large cat-like paw print. 'Definitely not from kitty, I thought, so being the inquisitive sort, I lay in wait in some nearby bushes. Quite soon, there appeared a bright light in the sky...

Oh dear, it's saturday, and out come the humourists. And that's it for today.

DALE DRINNON: Atlantis/Troll skulls from Greenland and other places

2012-02-11T03:52:00.000-08:00

New at the Frontiers of Anthropology on the last wave out of Atlantis (Which is actually the only one that really COUNTS):
http://frontiers-of-anthropology.blogspot.com/2012/02/taking-of-south-america-in-atlantean.html

http://frontiers-of-anthropology.blogspot.com/2012/02/last-wave-out-of-atlantis.html

And at Frontiers of Zoology an article on the Gadar skull from Greenland, Berserkers and Troll Skulls from other places:
http://frontiersofzoology.blogspot.com/2012/02/troll-skulls.html

ANARCHY IN THE MAGIC KINGDOM

2012-02-11T02:49:00.000-08:00

Well, it amuses me

http://www.dangerousminds.net/comments/crass_mickey_mouse_tee_shirt_hack

THAT ICELAND RIVER MONSTER AGAIN

2012-02-10T08:23:00.000-08:00

The other day we posted a story about a purported river monster in Iceland. Dale Drinnon was less than impressed and said that in his opinion it was some kind of mechanical construct. Independently, Loren Coleman said much the same thing over on cryptomundo.

I have no axe to grind either way on the subject, although I have to admit that the idea of a mechanical toy wasn't the first thing to come into my mind. However, I was surprised to see quite how many websites now carry the story...

Is This Iceland's Loch Ness Monster?
ABC News (blog)
The alleged monster, known as Lagarfljótsormurinn, Iceland's version of Scotland's Loch Ness Monster, has been a part of Icelandic folklore since 1345. The story goes that the mythical creature has lived in the 25-mile long and 376-feet deep Lagarfljót ...See all stories on this topic »

Iceland's Loch Ness Monster? [Video]
Long Island Press
By Maria Vultaggio on February 9th, 2012 We have all heard tales about the Loch Ness Monster: what it looks like, where it lives and of its enormous size. But is sea-serpent actually real? New footage of the sea-serpent has surfaced so you can decide ...See all stories on this topic »

'Iceland Worm Monster': Video Proof of Iceland's Loch Ness?
International Business Times
According to legend, the 25-mile-long 367-foot-deep Lake Lagarfljót is home to the worm, Iceland's answer to the Loch Ness Monster. Tales of Lagarfljót date back to the 14 th century. As the story goes, the monster grew from a tiny worm to a fierce sea ...See all stories on this topic »
International Business Times

Lagarfljot river worm sighting video: Icelandic Loch Ness Monster, or fishing net?3News NZA video which some say proves the existence of Iceland's answer to the Loch Ness Monster has sparked fierce debate in the country. The footage shows what looks like a creature swimming in the Jokulsa River. It is believed, by many, to be a legendary ...See all stories on this topic »
3News NZ

Is This Iceland's Loch Ness Monster? - World News - ABC News Radio
By Joshua Cohan
World News and Headlines From ABC News Radio.World News - ABC News Radio

Iceland's Loch Ness Worm Monster Real Or Hoax? Mediaite
By Nando Di Fino
Cryptozoology translates, loosely, into the study of hidden animals. Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, the Chupacabra -- these are the big ones. But what about the minor cryptids? The ones that are the subject of obscure folklore? The Gnome of ...Mediaite

Is This Iceland's Loch Ness Monster? - ABC News
Does the fabled Loch Ness monster of Iceland really exist? Scientists are skeptical. But a new video alleged to have captured images of the monster has gone ...
abcnews.go.com/blogs/.../is-this-icelands-loch-ness-monster/

Iceland's Loch Ness monster: Giant 'serpent-like sea creature ...
The video, captured last week by Hjörtur Kjerúlf, shows a mysterious creature swimming through the cold water of the glacial river Jökulsá í Fljótsdal, in east ...
www.dailymail.co.uk/.../Icelands-Loch-Ness-monster-Giant-se...

Iceland's Loch Ness monster? - The ...
Alleged Iceland river worm caught on tape Read more by Felipe Maya on CBS News' The Feed Blog.www.cbsnews.com/8301...162.../icelands-loch-ness-monster/

Iceland's Loch Ness Worm Monster: Real Or Robot? (VIDEO)
Something that looks very much like a giant snake -- or worm -- is slithering its way out of Iceland and causing viral speculation around the Internet.
www.huffingtonpost.com/.../icelands-loch-ness-worm-monster...

Video: Iceland's 'Loch Ness' monster ...Iceland's 'Loch Ness' monster spotted? Amateur footage claiming to show proof of Iceland's answer to the Loch Ness monster - a gigantic mythical river worm ...www.telegraph.co.uk/.../Icelands-Loch-Ness-monster-spotted...

Iceland's Loch Ness monster?
CBS News
(CBS) - A video which allegedly captured the Loch Ness monster of Iceland - better known as the Lagarfljot river worm -- has quickly become an Internet sensation. The footage, taken by local resident Hjortur Kjerulf and published on Icelandic ...

Loch Ness Monster in Iceland? Giant Serpent-Like Creature on Video ...
Gather.com
Does Iceland have its own Loch Ness Monster? A video captured a giant serpent-like creature swimming in a Icelandic river giving rise to the comparison. Some people watched the footage, and saw the country's mythical creature called Lagarfljótsormurinn ...

Caught on camera - Icelandic monster or fishing net?
Herald Sun
Cameraman captures footage of giant serpentine creature Footage could show the mythical "Icelandic worm monster" But sceptics say it's just a floating fishing net IT'S the cooler, more socially progressive cousin of the Loch Ness monster, ...

JON'S JOURNAL: Moss gardens, new ponds, and pawprints

2012-02-10T07:39:00.000-08:00

On thursday Prudence took me and Corinna for another walk, this time along the lane which leads from Huddisford woods to Ashcroft farm - an area which has had far more than its share of big cat sightings over the past few years. Interestingly, two different mystery cats have been reported over the years; one larger and black, and the other smaller and brown. One one occasion they were seen together.

It is this dichotomy of sightings which is one of the anomalies which has inspired Di Francis to come up with her controversial theory about a putative species of indigenous British big cat - one which exhibits a marked display of sexual dimorphism.

Here we should stress that the hairs found by Andrew Perry et al in 2010 were incontravertably those of a leopard, and furthermore one of the sub-Saharan subspecies.

It was still bloody cold as we walked along the lane, but everywhere you looked there were attractive displays of mosses and lichens. I have always been fascinated by these primitive plants ever since when - as a boy on holiday in the New Forest during the winter of 1963/4, my mother used to take me out for walks collecting mosses that she used to put into soup bowls and make into tiny moss gardens.

The Huddissford end of our walk leads past a part of the forestry plantation which was felled last year, and it is interesting to see how the newly corrugated terrain created by mechanical diggers, tractors etc is starting to form new ponds. Will they become stagnant and barren? Or will they provide invaluable oasises for the local wildlife. I can't wait to find out..

And finally, with all the talk of big cat prints on the blog, here are two footprints from the layby where we parked the car before embarking on our journey. The top one was made by Prudence, the other one not...

Today's music is pretty obvious really. I can't find a live version of it so you will have to do with the 1977 studio one..

MUIRHEAD`S MYSTERIES: ANCIENT PHOENICIAN KNOWLEDGE OF PERU

2012-02-10T06:46:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday Feb 7th I went to the Local Studies Library and Archives in Bolton,near Manchester to do research for the forthcoming Mystery Animals of Greater Manchester book.

Whilst looking through a scrap book I came across a cutting from around the mid Nineteenth Century,from an un-named Bolton newspaper, concerning a “remarkable discovery” of a stone commemorating the arrival,in Guayaquil, Peru, of some Phonecians in the year 9 or 10 of the reign of Hiram,of Tyre who reigned from 980-947BC and allied himself with King David of Israel, and is mentioned in 2 Samuel 5:11; 1 Kings 5 :1;1 Chronicles 14:1; 1 Kings 9: 13; Amos 1:9 (1) Though to be honest the cutting said he was ruler of Egypt.

1. Wikipedia King Hiram 1

YER JAMAICA POND MONSTER

2012-02-10T06:33:00.002-08:00

One of the most important jobs of the CFZ Bloggo network is to chronicle and preserve all the media accounts of mystery animals from around the world. Some are more important than others, whilst some, I think it is fair to say, are safe to ignore

http://jamaicapondmonster.blogspot.com/

HAUNTED SKIES: Times (The) 29.1.59.

2012-02-10T06:33:00.001-08:00

http://hauntedskies.blogspot.com/2012/02/times-29159.html

OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today

2012-02-10T06:21:00.000-08:00

http://cryptozoologynews.blogspot.com/
On this day in 1938 the BBC produced the first TV sci-fi series, an adaptation of the play P.U.K. which had coined the term ‘Robot’.

And now the news:

BIG CAT STORIES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
World's Highest-Pitched Primate Calls Out Like a B...
Researcher Finds Surprisingly Low Fish Biodiversit...
These Are the Earliest Human Paintings Ever
Oil exploration survey spots 17 blue whales off co...
Scared of a Younger Rival? Not for Some Male Songb...
US bat killer strikes in Europe
Hear This: Ship Noise Stresses Whales
Piltdown Man: British archaeology's greatest hoax
Maryland Man Admits To Turtle Trafficking Online ...
Pakistan Whale Shark's Death a Mystery
When the gorillas came visiting....
Disease eradication costs lives of 11,000 trees

Best robot… Ever:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQqeidrlDyw

BIG CAT NEWS: Today's stories

2012-02-10T04:17:00.000-08:00

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 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, so I am not promising that they will be done each day, but I will do them as regularly as I can. JD

Forget Gloucestershire big cats - 'lion' spotted near M5
This is Gloucestershire

CONCERNED callers alerted county police to more than 60 suspected big cat sightings in seven years – including a lion next to the M5 motorway. Gloucestershire Constabulary figures show they received 61 calls about what people believed were big cats in ...
Read on...

The big story today seems to be that of a Bristol barber who took a photograph that may have been of a big cat. The picture, however, as you can see, shows a very blurred print that may be from a felid but can't really be seen as conclusive evidence. At the risk of appearing cynical it looks as if the newspapers are jumping on the big cat bandwagon in an attempt to follow on from the big story in The Sun earlier this week.

Is this evidence of a big cat stalking Mendip Hills near Bristol?
This is Bristol
A BRISTOL barber believes he may have captured the paw print of a big cat stalking hills south of Bristol. Luigi Armato, 32, a barber in the city centre, snapped the print on his phone near the village of Binegar in the Mendip hills while out on a...
Read on...

The same story has appeared in two of the national daily papers (see below)

THE large print of a clawed paw is preserved in mud — the latest evidence of ...
The Sun
Now it's the Beast of Bristol: Giant paw print spotted in hills surrounding city
Daily Mail

We include the above links for the sake of completeness

In the very north of the UK, a series of sheep kills has prompted the locals to believe that a mystery cat not seen for some years has returned:

Has 'Skerray Beast' struck here again?
Sutherland Northern Times
And now, the people of Farr are wondering if the large puma-like cat has returned. The beast's modus operandi, marking it off from local scavengers or predators, was its ability to skin its prey every bit as neatly as any human being could.

Read on...

And also in Scotland...

Expert on prowl to solve 'big cat' mystery
Ross-Shire Journal
By Hector MacKenzie
This image shot by Lisa Sydenham of Tain, sparked a flurry of interest amongst big cat enthusiasts. THE mystery of a panther-like big cat spotted by a series of credible Ross-shire witnesses has been revisited by an acknowledged...
Read on...

I am not sure what to make of this picture. There doesn't seem to be any frame of reference so that one can tell the size, but the creature does seem very muscled. Perhaps a domestic moggy that has been eating steroids? I am basically joking here but would be interested to see what other people think of this picture.

And finally, Hinckley in Leicestershire was shocked recently by the discovery of the head of a muntjac in a tree. Was it the work of a big cat?

Mystery of the severed head on Burbage Common is solved
Hinckley Times
DOG walkers and others wanting to enjoy the picturesquely frosty scenes on Burbage Common can now do so without fear of a big cat attack. The mystery surrounding how a muntjac deer's head ended up in a tree has been solved - by the person who put it...

Nope: it was a bloke out walking his dog. His dog found it, and the owner took it away from the dog and put it in the tree to keep it away from the dog. I have a sneaking suspicion that a lot of stories are as simple as this if you dig hard enough.

COLDWATER FISH THAT NEED A LICENSE IN THE UK

2012-02-10T04:10:00.000-08:00

I know that quite a few readers are fishkeepers, and if you are over fifty (like yours truly) you probably remember the days when you could buy things like bitterling and bullhead catfish in pet shops. Now you can't. And it is all the fault of Tony Blair...

http://www.prestopets.co.uk/emailnewsletters/nonnativefish.pdf

Image: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ictalurus_punctatus.jpg

ANDREW MAY: Words from the Wild Frontier

2012-02-10T03:34:00.000-08:00

News and stories from the remoter fringes of the CFZ blogosphere...

From Nick Redfern's "There's Something in the Woods...":

British Big Cats: A Photo And A Story — An intriguing story from Neil Arnold...
Monsters of Virginia — A new book on Mysterious Creatures in the Old Dominion...

From CFZ Australia:

Chasing Blue Mountains yowies - a flashback! — A great feature from a few years ago...
Whitening strikes wombats twice in Ceduna — A second albino wombat has turned up...

DALE DRINNON: Long necked seal, plastic eaters, oldest dogs, giant skulls, and a new chunk of 'Cedar and Willow'

2012-02-10T02:59:00.000-08:00

Even by Dale's high standards today's postings are a bumper crop:

New on the Frontiers of Zoology, about that Longnecked seal...
http://frontiersofzoology.blogspot.com/2012/02/longnecked-seals-case-of-miossing.html

also
Not exactly Cryptozoology, but should be of interest to everyone:

http://frontiersofzoology.blogspot.com/2012/02/plastic-eaters.html

New on the Frontiers of Anthropology:
http://frontiers-of-anthropology.blogspot.com/2012/02/controversy-over-oldest-dogs.html

and

http://frontiers-of-anthropology.blogspot.com/2012/02/giants-skulls.html

And the next background chunk for Cedar and Willow has also been posted:
http://cedar-and-willow.blogspot.com/2012/02/fantastic-journeys-from-seventies.html

BIG CAT NEWS: Nigel Wright on the South Lakelands big cat

2012-02-09T16:29:00.000-08:00

BBC EXPERT STATES THAT SOUTH LAKELANDS BIG CAT "MAY EXIST"

The every continuing saga of the south Lakelands big cats took a other turn today.

BBC TV wildlife expert Chris Packham, the presenter of the “ springwatch” programme, today was quoted as stating that, given the terrain of the countryside, in the South Lakelands, and the capacity of big cats to both survive and hide without detection, that a big cat could exist in this area.

For those that believe that such cats do indeed roam this area, then such a statement, from a well-known animal expert, is a very big feather in their caps. At last, the subject seems to be getting the seriousness that it truly deserves.

http://www.thewestmorlandgazette.co.uk/news/9516533._Big_cat__could_be_out_there_in_South_Lakeland__says_TV_expert/

So, there you go!…Now even then established, well known “experts” are coming around to the same ideas that some of us, have already known for many years..These big cats are really out there!..and have been for many, many years…..

THE THREE MILLION MILESTONE

2012-02-09T07:18:00.000-08:00

We were so busy doing other stuff for the last week or so that we completely failed either to notice or to celebrate the fact that we recently got the three millionth hit on the blog. And the Alexa ranking for our main blog alone has gone up from 1,300,000 in January to 749,161 yesterday. I think we all have cause to feel rather pleased with ourselves - but what I would really like to do is to thank everyone who has helped make this happen.

Thank you my dears.

HAUNTED SKIES: Times (The) 7.3.59.

2012-02-09T07:14:00.003-08:00

http://hauntedskies.blogspot.com/2012/02/times-7359.html

OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today

2012-02-09T07:14:00.001-08:00

http://cryptozoologynews.blogspot.com/

On this day in 1906 the actor Lon Chaney Jr was born, he is well known for his portrayal of the Wolfman in several movies.

And now the news:

Ape versus machine: Do primates enjoy computer gam...
Purple Squirrel Found in Pennsylvania
Endangered Bryde's whale killed by apparent ship s...
Marine risk from skeleton fighting shrimp
Petrel causes a storm for New Zealand
Cane toads lose their killer touch in east Austral...
Can the jungle law save orangutans?
Castaway Lizards Provide Insight Into Elusive Evol...

A trailer for “The Wolfman”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTNQEd8D4pg

MAMMOTH IN SIBERIA (Many thanks to Dale Drinnon for pointing out this story)

2012-02-09T04:49:00.000-08:00

This story on Dale Drinnon's 'Frontiers of Zoology'

DALE DRINNON: New Zealand water monster/Cedar and Willow

2012-02-09T04:45:00.000-08:00

New on the Frontiers of Zoology, an old Water Monster report from New Zealand
http://frontiersofzoology.blogspot.com/2012/02/nz-down-central-hawkes-bay-way-thar-be.html

And on Cedar and Willow, reviews of the 1964 movie The Time Travelers, How I fit it into the system and a couple of surprise casting changes, PLUS the entire movie from youtube!
http://cedar-and-willow.blogspot.com/2012/02/time-travelers-1964-to-2070s-and-beyond.html

Also at Cedar and Willow, a deleted Wold Newton research page from Wikipedia I am preserving for research purposes:
http://cedar-and-willow.blogspot.com/2012/02/wikipedia-wn-deleted-page-phil-sandifer.html

JON'S JOURNAL: Hard day on the amphibious planet

2012-02-09T02:09:00.000-08:00

Today is a blogpost full of bad news I am afraid. It is not just that there is quite a lot of bad news to tell, but also that although we have been out and about a lot in the past week or so, we have been rushed off our feet with various things, and I have got sorely behind with writing up my journal.

So, I am sitting down today in an attempt to get it all up to date.

As anyone who knows me will attest, I am particularly fond of amphibians, (I even sang in a band called Jon Downes and the Amphibians from Outer Space) and I am sad to say that today's blog is largely full of bad news of the amphibious kind.

Firstly, I am very sad to report that three of our caecilians have died - one the other day, and two last night. That means that we only have one or two left. This is a devastating blow to our animal collection as we were not only very proud of having bred them, but they were the most important of our animal exhibits.

But wild amphibians are not doing too well either...

Last week we had the first really bad cold snap of the winter, and - as you can see - "our" ditch at Huddisford was frozen severely enough to cover most of the area with a thick and crisp covering of ice.

And the frogspawn, so newly laid was frozen into a glunky mass. Other frogspawn both here and at "our other" ditch at Kennerland were equally affected. It will be interesting to see what happens to them once the frost has gone. I am sure that they will all have been killed, but it will be interesting to see how long it takes for the spawn to disintegrate and therefore release nutrients badk into the water.

We have been watching these ditches for frogspawn intermittently every winter since 2005/6 and we have never yet seen any of the January spawn hatch out. It was this that prompted Oll's and my tentative hypothesis.

Even adult frogs are falling foul of the weather. I would hypothesise that this unfortunate individual, lulled into a false sense of security by the mild weather, became sluggish in the cold weather and thus was much easier for a car to run over. Sadly this was in the lane outside our house, so it might even have been our car that did for this unfortunate batrachian.

And the title? Check this out:

JON'S JOURNAL: Nonexistent egrets and possible big cat prints

2012-02-09T01:53:00.000-08:00

But it's not all bad news here in Woolsery. The other day I received a tip-off that there are now three different species of egret on the Torridge Estuary - little egrets, cattle egrets, and one or two great white egrets.

The cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis) is one of the zoological success stories of recent years. It was originally a species of tropical Africa and Asia and parts of southern Europe, but for some reason, quite possibly connected to the species’ commensal relationship with large grazing animals, first wild ones and more recently domestic livestock. According to Grubb, T. (1976). "Adaptiveness of Foraging in the Cattle Egret". Wilson Bulletin 88 (1): 145–148, they eat a wide range of invertebrate prey, and specialise in hunting those displaced by grazing livestock. Some studies have shown that they have 350% greater success when hunting in conjunction with the aforementioned livestock. Hence, as a result of its shift from utilising wild animals to utilising domestic ones, it has spread across the world.

According to Wikipedia:

The Cattle Egret has undergone one of the most rapid and wide reaching natural expansions of any bird species. It was originally native to parts of Southern Spain and Portugal, tropical and subtropical Africa and humid tropical and subtropical Asia. In the end of the 19th century it began expanding its range into southern Africa, first breeding in the Cape Province in 1908.Cattle Egrets were first sighted in the Americas on the boundary of Guiana and Suriname in 1877, having apparently flown across the Atlantic Ocean. It was not until the 1930s that the species is thought to have become established in that area.

The species first arrived in North America in 1941 (these early sightings were originally dismissed as escapees), bred in Florida in 1953, and spread rapidly, breeding for the first time in Canada in 1962. It is now commonly seen as far west as California. It was first recorded breeding in Cuba in 1957, in Costa Rica in 1958, and in Mexico in 1963, although it was probably established before that. In Europe the species had historically declined in Spain and Portugal, but in the latter part of the 20th century it expanded back through the Iberian Peninsula, and then began to colonise other parts of Europe; southern France in 1958, northern France in 1981 and Italy in 1985. Breeding in the United Kingdom was recorded for the first time in 2008 only a year after an influx seen in the previous year. In 2008 cattle egrets were also reported as having moved into Ireland for the first time.

In Australia the colonisation began in the 1940s, with the species establishing itself in the north and East of the continent. It began to regularly visit New Zealand in the 1960s. Since 1948 the Cattle Egret has been permanently resident in Israel. Prior to 1948 it was only a winter visitor.

According to Silva, M. P.; Coria, N. E.;Favero, M.; Casaux, R. J. (1995) The species has been seen as a vagrant in various sub-Antarctic islands, including South Georgia, Marion Island, the South Sandwich Islands and the South Orkney Islands.

So yesterday Graham and I tootled along to Bideford to have a look, but sadly we saw nothing more impressive than various species of gull, although we took a couple of pictures of the aforementioned gulls just to prove that we had been there.

And there is potentially more interesting news. These footprints were found by me, Corinna and Prudence up at Huddisford in tuesday. According to Richard they look feline rather than canine although they are a bit messy. Could this be proof that the leopard is still in its old haunts at Huddisford.

Watch this space.

BIG CAT NEWS: The Calderdale Catbeast

2012-02-08T05:14:00.000-08:00

Is this another mark of the Calderdale catbeast?

Could this be the mark of Calderdale's catbeast? The apparent paw print was found by Malcolm Edwards, of Jumples Lodge, Halifax

Published on Wednesday 8 February 2012 09:29

THE mystery of the Calderdale catbeast took a new turn with the discovery of this huge paw print.

It is the second time the big cat – thought to be a black panther like the one above – has left its mark in the ground. The latest print was found in the mud by Malcolm Edwards outside the garage of his home in Wheatley, Halifax. The 67-year-old said: “It was fairly dark so I had a torch with me. As I shone it down at the ground, there it was.

“It certainly looks like a paw print but what sort of a paw, and from what, I don’t know. The thing that intrigued me is cats have retractable claws and there are no claw marks on the print.”

The print measures about four inches across and is the only one Mr Edwards found. It may have been there some time, as the ground has been frozen hard for days. Mr Edwards said he had not heard or seen anything out of the ordinary, but was open to the possibility it could be a big cat.

“It’s a good size, whatever it is,” he said.

In November, Susan Rooke reported seeing a black, puma-like animal scrabbling in her garden at Chevinedge Crescent, Exley, before jumping over a fence. The creature left behind a similar paw print and scratch marks. The 58-year-old told the Courier of her terror at the time.

She said: “It looked like a black panther.

“My heart was in my mouth. I had never seen anything like that in my life, in all my years.

“When I saw the claw marks I thought I wasn’t dreaming. I thought ‘My God, it really was here’.”

The first possible physical evidence of the Calderdale catbeast was in 2005 when a Shibden farmer discovered the savaged remains of a sheep. Elsewhere in the UK, there has been solid evidence that big cats have roamed the countryside. A puma was captured alive in Scotland in 1980 and a jungle cat was found on a Shropshire roadside in 1989 after it was hit by a passing car.

A leopard was shot on the Isle of Wight in 1993, and lynx have been shot in Suffolk in 1991 and Northern Ireland in 1996.

Closer to home, the Beast of Ossett was filmed prowling near woodland on the edge of the town in 1999. Special Constable Phillip Sanderson, wildlife officer for Calderdale, said the pictured print did look feline.

But he added there was not yet enough evidence to confirm or reject the existence of a big cat here. He said: “We have had sporadic sightings of an animal nicknamed the catbeast of Calderdale.

“Unfortunately a lot of the sightings are inconclusive.

“If such an animal exists it appears to be surviving on the availiable ground game as the police have had no reports of domestic livestock loss.

“If anyone was to see an animal of this description, do not approach but contact the police.”

http://www.halifaxcourier.co.uk/news/local/is_this_another_mark_of_the_calderdale_catbeast_1_4223679

HAUNTED SKIES: Times (The) 6.3.59.

2012-02-08T04:58:00.002-08:00

http://hauntedskies.blogspot.com/2012/02/times-6359.html

OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today

2012-02-08T04:58:00.001-08:00

http://cryptozoologynews.blogspot.com/

On this day in 1943 movie actor Joe Pesci star of the extremely bizarre and unintentionally funny Moonwalker (and the better films “Goodfellas”, “Home Alone” and “My Cousin Vinny”) was born. His character in Moonwalker had an evil plot to hide drugs in spiders and sell them to kids so the spiders would bite them and get the kids hooked on crack or something, thankfully Michael Jackson saved the day by transforming into a car and then a spaceship (okaaay…).

And now the news:

Rare Irrawaddy dolphins found in Indonesian waters...
NZ: Monster tales from deep dark past (via Chad Ar...
Lizard survives 3,000 miles in suitcase and 30 min...
Burma officials seize 10,000 snakes bound for Chin...
Toddler chews head off snake
Tutan-CAT-mun: 18th Century mummified kitty falls ...
Farmer fined for faking a new bird species
The Dark Side of New Species Discovery - Lao newt,...
All in their heads? CDC finds no physical cause fo...
SeaWorld sued over 'enslaved' killer whales

“Like a clown, funny?” Pesci’s most famous scene from Goodfellas (WARNING: contains cuss words that may cause you to run from the room covering your child's ears whist weeping for their lost innocence and vowing to write a strongly worded letter to your local MP if you are a bit prudish and genuinely believe they do not hear much worse every day in the school playground) :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_ff46b58Hk

RIDICULOUSLY EARLY SPECKLED WOOD

2012-02-07T18:26:00.000-08:00

Many thanks to Kithra for sending this story which BTW came in before the recent cold snap:

A Falmouth wildlife photographer has snapped a butterfly in his garden – a full two months before the creatures normally emerge for the spring. Steve Ogden snapped the image of the Speckled Wood butterfly – and says it is the latest example of how the extremely mild winter is confusing our wildlife.

http://www.falmouthpacket.co.uk/news/9478079.Rare_early_butterfly_spotted_in_Falmouth/?ref=mr

DALE DRINNON: Moche/Mayan Monkey Men

2012-02-07T13:27:00.000-08:00

Today my regular email account is not working and so I am using the alternate account. So far today I have a couple of postings leftover from the "Mayan Monkey Man" postings of last week. At the Frontiers of Zoology I have a Moche pot which appears to be representing the same thing as the Mayan artwork is showing:
http://frontiersofzoology.blogspot.com/2012/02/moche-monkey-man.html

And at Frontiers of Anthropology is a different take on one of the Mayan pieces:
http://frontiers-of-anthropology.blogspot.com/2012/02/american-hanuman.html

INAPPROPRIATE CORNER: Has there ever been a gymnasium advert in worse taste?

2012-02-07T13:00:00.000-08:00

Back in the 1980s there was a series of tasteless and brash adverts for a designer clothes, but I don't think that there has been anything which has shown quite such a lapse of taste as this ad for a Dubai gym.

Unless, of course, there is someone out there who can prove me wrong...

http://www.inquisitr.com/177091/auschwitz-gym-ad-dubai-circuit-factory-gym/

BIG CAT NEWS: Neil Arnold on a Kent Big Cat photo

2012-02-07T12:58:00.000-08:00

With the recent video of an alleged 'big cat' appearing on The Sun website, I'd be interested to see what CFZ readers make of this image which I published in my MYSTERY ANIMALS OF...KENT book in 2009.

The photo was snapped in 1998 by a Kent man named Harry Matthews whilst he was working on marshes at Cooling, a few miles outside of Rochester.

At the time the story featured on the local news, and in no way did Mr Matthews say it was an enormous cat, but he felt it was more than just a feral. Interestingly, a story appeared on one of the major tabloid websites from elsewhere in the country and this photo was stolen and spoken of as 'the beast of Bodmin', but it isn't, it was photographed in Kent. It's one of the clearest photo's ever taken, and has led some to believe it's a Reed Cat (Jungle Cat), others believe it to be a domestic/Jungle cat hybrid. It certainly isn't much bigger than a fox, your opinions please.

Regards

Neil Arnold

STRANDED WHALE SHARK

2012-02-07T12:51:00.000-08:00

this picture of a stranded whale shark from Pakistan has proliferated itself across the Internet. I have a sneaking suspicion that like this picture that we featured a few weeks ago, the impression of size has ben achieved through forced perspective...

http://news.yahoo.com/photos/giant-whale-shark-washes-ashore-1328633340-slideshow/#crsl=%252Fphotos%252Fgiant-whale-shark-washes-ashore-1328633340-slideshow%252Fresidents-gather-whale-shark-pulled-water-cranes-found-photo-155314580.html

HAUNTED SKIES: People (The) 14.6.59.

2012-02-07T05:41:00.003-08:00

http://hauntedskies.blogspot.com/2012/02/people-14659.html

OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today

2012-02-07T05:41:00.001-08:00

On this day in 1960 Queen Elizabeth II issued an order in council that her family would be known as the house of Windsor and her descendants would take the name Mountbatten-Windsor.

And now the news:

Domestic Cats, and Wild Bobcats and Pumas, Living ...
ATM Gives Out Dead Mouse
Glacier thief arrested in Chile
'Cat-Eye' Boy Video Said To Show Chinese Child Who...
Bird numbers plummet around stricken Fukushima pla...
First assessment of Endangered Northern Rockhopper...
Conflict elephant rescued from death sentence
Anthrax outbreak at Mana Pools
Boas Time Their Big Squeeze to Prey's Heartbeat (v...
Georgia Reins In Harvest of Freshwater Turtles (v...

Charles Mountbatten-Windsor busting some moves and breakdancing (yes it is him and no he is quite good at it all things considered) :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTUrc-De2xY

BIG CAT NEWS: The Beast of Stroud

2012-02-07T05:22:00.000-08:00

Many thanks to Penny of Big Cats at Large for drawing our attention to this interesting piece of video which appeared yesterday on The Sun's website.

They write:

"A LEOPARD-like creature 6ft from nose to tail is caught on video bounding across a field at dusk — which an expert believes is final proof Britain's Big Cats really do exist".

That is - I am afraid - hyperbole; it is an interesting video, but it is a long way from being conclusive proof. However The Sun have got their best headline for many years:

For those of you too young to get this uncharacterfully self-referential joke, check out this front page from the same newspaper during the latter half of the 1982 Falklands War:

Now check out the video:

Scientific English as She Is Spoke

2012-02-07T04:31:00.000-08:00

I first read about English as She Is Spoke many years ago in Stephen Pile's Book of Heroic Failures. Wikipedia has this to say about it:

English as She Is Spoke is the common name of a 19th century book written by Pedro Carolino and falsely additionally credited to José da Fonseca, which was intended as a Portuguese-English conversational guide or phrase book, but is regarded as a classic source of unintentional humour, as the given English translations are generally completely incoherent. Carolino added Fonseca's name to the book without the latter knowing about it. Fonseca had written a successful Portuguese-French phrase book, which Carolino adapted.

Over the weekend Richard Muirhead has continued his ongoing researches into Hong Kong natural history for the book we are writing together. He found an interesting looking database, and used online translation software to convert it into The Queen's English:

DALE DRINNON: Thunderbirds/out of Africa

2012-02-07T03:42:00.000-08:00

Two New Entries on Thunderbirds and the Texas "Big Birds" of the 1970s, on Frontiers of Zoology:

http://frontiersofzoology.blogspot.com/2012/02/other-big-birds-possibly-being-reported.html

http://frontiersofzoology.blogspot.com/2012/02/texas-big-bird-of-1970s.html

And a pleasant stroll Out Of Africa and Around The World on Frontiers of Anthropology:
http://frontiers-of-anthropology.blogspot.com/2012/02/out-of-africa-by-faces.html

CFZ CANADA FOR TUESDAY: Underwater mystery cat

2012-02-06T05:34:00.001-08:00

Native North Americans have a long tradition of storiesregarding the Mishibizhiw, an underwater panther. Some tribes, particularly Anishinaabe, Odawa,Ojibwe, and Potawatomi, of the Great Lakes region of Canada consider this beingas the most powerful underworld being. The Ojibwe held them to be the master of all water creatures. Some myths include this water lynx in their creationlegends.

Read on...

ANDREW MAY: Words from the Wild Frontier

2012-02-06T05:32:00.000-08:00

News and stories from the remoter fringes of the CFZ blogosphere...

From Nick Redfern's "There's Something in the Woods...":

On The Track - A New Episode — This month's webcast from the CFZ...
Strange Creatures & UFOs: Pennsylvania — A report from Stan Gordon...

From CFZ Australia:

Vale Chief - White Wolf of the West — A doggy obituary...

From CFZ Canada:

Underwater Mystery Cat — Native American traditions regarding the Mishibizhiw...

HAUNTED SKIES: News of the World 6.9.59.

2012-02-06T04:52:00.000-08:00

http://hauntedskies.blogspot.com/2012/02/news-of-world-6959.html

OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today

2012-02-06T04:51:00.000-08:00

Yesterday’s News Today
http://cryptozoologynews.blogspot.com/

On this day in 1812 Charles Dickens was born. Dickens often used the paranormal in his novels, including ghosts in A Christmas Carol and spontaneous human combustion in Bleak House.

And now the news:

NM: Tracking Bigfoot (via Chad Arment)
Ancient DNA Holds Clues to Climate Change Adaptati...
BLUE WHALES KEEP GETTING BIGGER
How Dinosaurs Grew So Huge
New population of Critically Endangered monkey fou...
Seagrass ‘tens of thousands of years old’
Almost 1,500 turtles "crammed like sardines" into ...

Come over here you weird little man:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3j4jBIhCIVE

DALE DRINNON: Bigfoot, Atlantis and `Cedar and Willow`

2012-02-06T01:54:00.000-08:00

Tracking bigfoot - by popular request

http://frontiersofzoology.blogspot.com/2012/02/tracking-bigfoot.html

New on Frontiers of Anthropology, could be very important in Atlantis theory:

http://frontiers-of-anthropology.blogspot.com/2012/02/direct-dated-evidence-for-early.html

And on Cedar and Willow another piece that wrote itself: something appropriate for Valentine's Day or maybe Easter or just to stare at in bemusement at the Human Condition:
http://cedar-and-willow.blogspot.com/2012/02/chickie-is-intoxicated-by-estrogen.html

NAOMI AND HER RATS

2012-02-05T12:03:00.000-08:00

TERRY COLVIN: U.S Jaguars

2012-02-05T09:51:00.000-08:00

Following our recent posting on the jaguarundi in Florida Terry Colvin wrote:

Jon,

The jaguarundi is a small cat indeed.

While living in Arizona, 1980-2008, exclusive of three years in Panama, 1981-1984, I was surprised to learn that jaguars were roaming out of Mexico and foraging into southern Arizona as far north as Tucson. This is well documented by trip cameras and visual observations.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/05/us/in-arizona-rare-sightings-of-ocelots-and-jaguars.html

http://www.azgfd.gov/w_c/es/jaguar_management.shtml

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/Return_of_the_Jaguar.html

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/2011/11/jaguar-spotted-southern-arizona-macho-b.html

http://www.livescience.com/5316-rare-jaguars-spotted-arizona-mexico.html

I am reminded of the big cat sighting that Bob Mantz and I had in October 2003. No physical evidence was collected and no camera was allowed on this classified radio test. It happened on the East Range at Fort Huachuca, Arizona near the towns of Sierra Vista and Tombstone. Bob and I were convinced this was a black mountain lion. Yes, I know such has never been proven to exist.

Terry

It wasn't until I plundered wikipedia for this picture that I discovered that the Arizona jaguar is actually a separate species P. onca. arizonensis..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaguar

NIGEL WRIGHT: The haunting of rectory cottage

2012-02-05T09:15:00.000-08:00

Our perception of this world in which we live is often shaped by the childhood homes in which we take our first, tentative steps towards adulthood. If, like me, you just happened to move into a very haunted cottage at the age of 10 years then this move would, I suggest, lead one into a life-long obsession with ghosts and all things paranormal! Thus it was with yours truly…

That year - so long ago now - was a an exciting one for me! After a long period of living in small caravans due to my fathers job of being a site warden, my mother landed a job as a housekeeper to the rector of Powderham, on the edge of the Powderham castle estate, in Devon. A three bedroom cottage came with the job, and so it was that I found myself moving into this very old, and as we were to discover, very haunted cottage. Rectory cottage dated from at least the English civil war. It stood in its own two acres of gardens, standing, as it did, beside the main road that led to the small church at Powderham. For me, coming from my old life, it was truly paradise! All that surrounded the cottage was countryside. Next door, to one side, was the pheasant hatchery for the estate; on the other, the rectory itself. Opposite lay open fields; it really was a countryside haven, or so we thought...!

For me, the experiences of paranormal activity in the cottage began one dark winter evening. As I lay in bed I could hear the loud, regular ticking of a grandfather-type clock. The odd thing about this was that we had no such clock in the cottage! For nights I heard this sound. I told my father about it; he was dismissive to begin with. “Childhood imagination” was his verdict on the matter. But as I continued to report the same noise to my parents night after night he began to take the situation seriously. Fearing an infestation of death-watch beetle in the roof beams (ticking being a typical sign of such an infestation), he climbed up into the loft to investigate. They were brand new! The reason for this was that the cottage had suffered a very serious firea few years before, in which the entire top floor had burnt away, along with the roof. In this fire local rumour stated that an old lady had died. My father even placed a reel-to-reel tape recorder in my room one night, and he indeed captured the sound on tape!

So, auditory phenomena was the first sign of a haunting occurring. Then, on a bright, sunny summer morning, quite early my father awoke to find the fully-dressed figure of a civil war cavalier standing at the foot of their bed, smiling at them! After my father had shouted at the figure, enquiring (albeit not so politely) what this man was doing in my parents room, the figure merely faded away! Now we had full-body manifestation as well to contend with!

Things continued apace. My sister, who was five years older than myself, had a fascination for Egyptology: her bedroom had pictures of pyramids, mummies, etc, all over her walls. Her room was furnished with heavy, old oak wardrobes that my parents had bought at auction. Indeed, these wardrobes were so heavy that two men had to lift them into the room. This bedroom was really weird! It had a certain atmosphere. Our dogs - a Labrador called Bruce and a Manchester terrier-cross called Judy - would not enter this bedroom, not even when dragged on a lead towards it! They seemed to have no problem with any other room in the house. Then, one morning my sister called out loudly to my parents. Mum rushed to see what was the matter; she had a job entering the bedroom, because the heavy wardrobes had somehow managed to turn themselves completely around during the night and now semi-blocked the doorway! There was no way my sister could have moved them herself - they were far to heavy for that - and no-one else had been in the room that night. So now we also had poltergeist activity as well!. Full house!!

Now, one would imagine that for whatever was haunting this cottage, such a combination of activity would suffice. No! Yet more was to happen…. In the kitchen, salt and pepper pots floated down onto the table from a high shelf right in front of our eyes! Then, as I took a bath one day, a Victorian-dressed lady proceeded to float out of the wall to my right and go right through me and the wall to my left! All I can remember is the horrible sense of shivering as the apparition went through my body.

After a couple of years at the cottage, my grandparents died and my father inherited their bungalow. And so we moved away. Eventually the cottage was demolished and now there stands a brand new large house where once stood this beautiful yet fearfully haunted cottage. The one remaining question stays in my mind. If it is true that if one disturbs a haunted house the haunting increases, then what, if any, events of a paranormal kind occur in that new house today? It would be very interesting to find out…!

A ZEBRA IN TEXAS? CAN SUCH A THING BE? ASK NICK...

2012-02-04T23:39:00.000-08:00

http://nickspicoftheday.blogspot.com/2012/02/pier-39-and-texan-zebra.html

WATCHER OF THE SKIES: Leucistic blackbird, starling flocks, missing raptors

2012-02-04T23:27:00.000-08:00

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

Modern practices push farmland birds to brink of extinction
Farmland birds such as the corncrake, curlew and yellowhammer were once common, but are now dangerously close to extinction in Ireland according to a four-year study on bird populations on the island. The survey is known as the Bird Atlas 2007-2011 and finishes at the end of the month, it being the most comprehensive survey of bird life in more than two decades. It has also revealed an alarming decline in summer migrants such as the cuckoo and a sharp rise in buzzard numbers as well as the re-emergence of woodpeckers are centuries of absence.

BirdWatch Ireland, the British Trust for Ornithology and and the Scottish Ornithologist s Club are jointly co-ordinating the survey, which has highlighted a remarkable decline in some of Ireland’s most emblematic farmland birds, such as the corncrake and the curlew.
The closing date for records to be submitted to the survey’s co-ordinators is January 31st, and BirdWatch Ireland is still asking the 2,500 Irish volunteers who have taken part in the survey and to members of the public to send in their sightings.

Continued: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2012/0120/1224310516074.html

Leucistic blackbird
Rufford Abbey Country Park in Nottinghamshire had an unusual blackbird visiting this month. It is leucistic – a genetic mutation that prevents pigments from being deposited in its fethers and has been residing in the woodland at the park for the last four years. Over the years it has apparently shed its black feathers and replaced them with white.

Continued: http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/16646922#story_continues_2
Picture credit: Notts County Council

Missing rare birds from Cairngorms National Park
Two golden eagles, two hen harriers, a peregrine falcon in 2010.
One peregrine falcon, one hen harrier, one hobby in 2011.

These are rare birds that have disappeared from the skies above the Cairngorms National Park in Scotland. Staff there have been tagging raptors in an attempt to track their movements and learn about their habitats. They also say that they think it is “highly likely” that birds of prey are being hunted and killed illegally.

Karen Couper, ecology adviser, said: "The survey has so far highlighted the high mortality rate of these birds with two golden eagles, two hen harriers and one peregrine disappearing in 2010, and single peregrine, hen harrier and hobby in 2011.

"This high mortality rate is very worrying. The Cairngorms National Park is a great place for raptors but the populations of these raptors are low.

"The exact cause of the deaths of our tagged birds is not known. Some will be natural causes but it looks very likely that some have been killed illegally both in and outside the national park, which is simply unacceptable."

Read further: http://news.stv.tv/scotland/highlands-islands/295608-rare-birds-disappearing-at-a-very-worrying-rate/

Somerset murmurations
Flocks of starlings forming shapes in the sky are well known and often seen just before sunset. But if you would like to experience such a spectacle at dawn and are in, or near, Meare Manor, Somerset, the RSPB are inviting folks to go along to witness the morning flood of starlings that rise from the reed beds on the Avalon marshes every day. On the 3rd, 11th and 18th February you can attend one of the Starling Dawn Explosions.

"This is a unique chance to take away the unpredictability of the evening roost" explained Somerset's People Engagement Officer Matt Brierley.

"It is always a lottery where the starlings are going to go at dusk; yet the dawn explosion has been described as Britain's best natural phenomenon and we know where they are. Plus there's a brew and breakfast afterwards."

For visitors wanting to see the starlings coming into roost before sunset, the RSPB are offering a free talk on weekdays.

"It's a chance to get answers to all those questions like how far do they travel? How do you count them? And just why do they do it?" explained Matt Brierley.

For more information about the weekday evening talk and parking instructions call the starling hotline on 07866 554142.

Booking is essential. The Starling Dawn Explosion, including a breakfast roll and hot drink afterwards, is bookable through Meare Manor and costs £6 per person. Call 01458 860449 for details. Meet at Ashcott car park on the Meare to Ashcott road.

HAUNTED SKIES: Obituary for Derek Dempster

2012-02-04T21:52:00.003-08:00

http://hauntedskies.blogspot.com/2012/02/obituary-for-derek-dempster.html

OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today

2012-02-04T21:52:00.001-08:00

http://cryptozoologynews.blogspot.com/

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is actually yesterday's 'Yesterday's News Today' rather than today's 'Yesterday's News Today', but yesterday Oll posted today's 'Yesterday's News Today' the day before today, if you know what I mean...

On this day in 1958 the United States Air Force lost a nuclear bomb off the coast of Georgia, it has never been found despite several attempts to do so. There is no danger of a nuclear explosion, as certain parts of the bomb that could trigger this were not kept with the bomb, but the possibility of the bombs casing corroding and releasing the nuclear material remains.
And now the news:

Cull of 200 Canada geese planned in Lake District
How Neanderthal Are You? Your DNA Has the Answer
EVEN IN DEATH, EGYPTIAN BIRDS WERE FED
GLOW-IN-THE-DARK MAMMAL DISCOVERED
'Big cats are out there', say two Gloucestershire ...
FIERY DEMISE FOR A TITAN OF NATURE

“What could Oll have chosen as a vaguely related and always entertaining sign off vid today? He puts a lot of effort into making a list of links something we might want to read each day you know and we really appreciate it. He is also incredibly brave, noble and modest too.” I hear you say, well wonder no more and click the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3clBZqaA54

NEIL ARNOLD: Big Cat Evidence

2012-02-04T20:11:00.000-08:00

BIG CAT EVIDENCE - Over the last couple of weeks it's been interesting to note how many newspapers across England - some less reliable than others (if there is such a thing in the world of tabloids!) - have published news of an alleged 'big cat' kill in Gloucestershire. It's always positive news when a 'kill' makes the papers in some sense as it makes the public - and certainly sceptics - aware that there is evidence to suggest that large, exotic cats roam the UK.

However, this sort of evidence is hardly headline news; in fact it's extremely common. Every week evidence comes to light regarding 'big cat' activity in the southeast of England such as kills, scat etc. See images:

1) fox killed by black leopard,

2) fox stripped by female black leopard,

3) deer carcass found in a tree,

4) deer killed by black leopard,

5) leopard scat full of deer fur,
6) sheep kill.

Hardly ground-breaking news. If the evidence proves that such prey have been taken by a large cat, I don't really see this making a great impact, sadly, as previously hair samples, some excellent photos, kills and even felid bodies have turned up, but it generally dies down after a while. Here's hoping that the abundant evidence proves without a shadow of a doubt that leopard, puma and lynx are roaming Britain, but sadly there will always be those who do not believe such reports. Even if a 'big cat' body turns up - which I hope it doesn't to some extent - I'm sure the sceptical view will be that it's a hoax or a zoo escapee.

WATCHER OF THE SKIES: Red kites, Glossy Ibis and Thrushes (two different ones)

2012-02-04T13:13:00.000-08:00

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

Poisoned red kite ninth to die
A breeding female red kite has become the ninth of this species to die from illegal poisoning according to park rangers. It had been nesting on a farm near Redcross, Co Wicklow, and was found near Brittas Bay late last year.

Red kite project manager Dr Marc Ruddock said it was a demoralising loss. "These birds are specialist scavengers, that's why they are finding these food sources which are sadly poisoned. They are designed to clean up the countryside," he said.

"These illegal actions jeopardise local biodiversity and the economically important and deserved reputation and profile natural Wicklow cherishes."

Dr Ruddock called for anyone with information on poisonings to contact local National Parks and Wildlife Service rangers and gardai to help identify and confront individuals repeatedly and illegally poisoning wildlife. Penalties for illegally poisoning birds of prey can be up to 5,000 euro or 12 years in prison.

Read more at: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5jLSzhK068QMN_t3vFfbqi_AhODwA?docId=N0173911327676120364A

Thrushes identification
The BTO (British Trust for Ornithology) has been helping householders to identify the difference between the commonly confused song (Turdus philomelos) and mistle thrush (Turdus viscivorus) and has launched a free guide to help. These birds are both of conservation concern and it is important that their numbers are counted correctly.

Tim Harrison of the BTO Garden Ecology Team commented: “Research shows that urbanised habitats have become very important for Song (LEFT) and Mistle (RIGHT) Thrushes. With broader concerns about the health of their populations, charting their numbers in gardens correctly is important.”

He added: “BTO data show that Song Thrushes had a bumper breeding season in 2011, but with so many inexperienced birds now on the scene it is important that we help them as best we can. This is done by providing food and water, and also by recording them accurately. This is where the free BTO guide will help.”

For the free BTO guide to Song Thrush and Mistle Thrush, email gbw@bto.org, telephone 01842 750050, or write to:

Thrushes Guide,
GBW, British Trust for Ornithology,
The Nunnery, Thetford, Norfolk, IP24 2PU.

Preview the free BTO Song Thrush vs. Mistle Thrush guide here
Picture Credits: The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO)

Rare wetland birds spotted on the Isle of Eigg
The glossy ibis (Plegadis falcinellus) is classed as a scarce visitor to our shores, but during this winter there have been sporadic sightings in the northwest and the southwest of England, and south Wales. It is a wader that feeds in very shallow water, and nests in fresh water among reeds or rushes in areas of low trees and bushes. This month a group of them has been spotted on the Isle of Eigg, which is a Scottish Wildlife Trust reserve. The Trust’s ranger on the Isle of Eigg, John Chester, said:

“Ibises are a very noteworthy species within the UK & especially here in west Scotland. As a first record for the island they have generated a lot of interest amongst the local people many of whom have been able to see the birds.

“We’re not sure as yet where these birds originated from, though it seems that it could be Spain or France. However as one of them is ringed we’ll hopefully be able to obtain more information on this.

“Why exactly they’ve turned up on Eigg, especially in such a wild & wet winter, is a real mystery but they certainly seem to be having no trouble finding food in the heavily flooded marshes.

“Hopefully they’ll continue to hang around for a while & are enjoying the Hebridean winter.”

Read more at: http://scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/news/rare-wetland-birds-spotted-on-the-isle-of-eigg/
Picture credit: Wikipedia – Glossy Ibis breeding plumage

BLOODY HELL LOOK AT WHAT NIGEL HAS WRITTEN

2012-02-04T13:11:00.000-08:00

What a sweetie he is...
http://crazyufologist.yolasite.com/cryptozoology.php

JON'S PORTRAIT BY THOM ATKINSON

2012-02-04T09:56:00.000-08:00

You may remember that last summer portrait photographer Thom Atkinson visited the CFZ and photographed Jon for an art project (don't giggle - it wasn't THAT kind of art project). Here - for the first time - are three pictures from the session..

DAVE B-P FOUND THIS IN THE NORTH DEVON JOURNAL

2012-02-04T06:46:00.000-08:00

HAUNTED SKIES: Daily Telegraph 22.5.59.

2012-02-04T05:24:00.000-08:00

http://hauntedskies.blogspot.com/2012/02/daily-telegraph-22559.html

OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today

2012-02-04T05:23:00.000-08:00

http://cryptozoologynews.blogspot.com/

On this day in 1952 Queen Elizabeth II became queen of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth Realms, which means that today is technically her Diamond Jubilee, although the jubilee is usually celebrated on the anniversary of the official coronation.

And now the news:

What If All the Cats in the World Suddenly Died?
News of Jellyfish Takeover Unfounded, Scientists S...
A Battle of the Vampires, 20 Million Years Ago?
Pigeon fanciers investigated by police for Peregri...
New hope for world’s rarest gorilla
81 dolphins have died along Cape Cod shore
Wildlife 'facing a tough summer' with water shorta...
Atlantic sturgeon's listing as endangered could af...

The golden Jubilee saw Brian May playing the national anthem on Buckingham palace roof, which was quite cool imo so here’s a clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FHuwP6EK34

ICELAND RIVER MONSTER?

2012-02-04T05:05:00.000-08:00

Hi Jon,

I found this tonight whilst browsing the Icelandic news. I have my doubts, but it does appear to move upstream in relation to the bank side vegetation in the first part of the clip.

All the best, Peter Thain

http://www.icelandreview.com/icelandreview/daily_news/?cat_id=29314&ew_0_a_id=387066

We also received notification of this from Andreas Trottmann..

DALE DRINNON: Bigfoot/Mining Hastened Erosion/Cedar and Willow

2012-02-04T01:36:00.000-08:00

New on the Frontiers of Zoology:
http://frontiersofzoology.blogspot.com/2012/02/some-observations-on-bigfoot.html
New on the Frontiers of Anthropology:
http://frontiers-of-anthropology.blogspot.com/2012/02/mining-hastened-erosion-and-we-are.html
New on 'Cedar and Willow':
http://cedar-and-willow.blogspot.com/2012/02/brenda-starrs-and-their-men-with.html

I KNOW SOME OF YOU WERE SUSPECTING THAT IT WOULD NEVER ARRIVE BUT...

2012-02-03T12:50:00.000-08:00

Here is the cover. We are just waiting for two more submissions (we will spare the blushes of the tardy authors), and with luck and a fair wind the 2012 Year Book (our 14th) will be out in a couple of weeks.

MORE TOUCHING POULTRY NEWS (ever get the impression that SOMEONE in the CFZ is obsessed with chickens?)

2012-02-03T12:41:00.000-08:00

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-16198947

Illegal imports of African “bush meat” imperil more than exotic wildlife

2012-02-03T10:13:00.000-08:00

The next bloody bag of “mystery meat” from overseas could contain a virus that will ravage our native wildlife population or indeed ravage us-“Bush meat” is the name euphemistically given for things killed in the (generally African) “bush,” and consumed by hard pressed natives who either don’t care or can’t be choosy about what [...]

Continue Reading →

ANDREW MAY: Words from the Wild Frontier

2012-02-03T03:47:00.000-08:00

News and stories from the remoter fringes of the CFZ blogosphere...

From Nick Redfern's "There's Something in the Woods...":

Big Cats at Kent Online — Neil Arnold's new blog on big cats in Britain...

From CFZ Australia:

The Bunyip Terror of Geelong — Fascinating local lore from the 19th century...

LARS THOMAS: A little something for the blog

2012-02-03T02:50:00.000-08:00

Hi Jon,

Whilst pursuing one of my minor hobbies (the life and times of Leonardo da Vinci) I stumbled upon this drawing done by the great man probably in 1513, intitled 'Studies of cats and other animals.' All well and good - I see several cats, something looking like a lion and perhaps a couple of bears fighting. But what is that thing just below and to the right of the middle of the drawing? I know Leonardo did several drawings of costumes and set pieces for theatre, one of which a large dragon, but he usually labeled his drawings and made various notes about them. But this creature is just inserted in between all the 'regular' animals. Ideas anyone??

Lars

HAUNTED SKIES: Daily Telegraph 7.3.59.

2012-02-03T02:43:00.003-08:00

http://hauntedskies.blogspot.com/2012/02/daily-telegraph-7359.html

OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today

2012-02-03T02:43:00.001-08:00

http://cryptozoologynews.blogspot.com/
On this day in 1974 the Symbionese Liberation Army kidnapped heiress Patty Hurst. In what has become the most documented case of Stockholm Syndrome, Hurst ended up as a member of the gang, helping them to commit armed robberies and other crimes.

And now the news:

Working to save Nicaragua’s hawksbills
Snakes Wreak Havoc In Florida Everglades (via Simo...
New Species of Ancient Crocodile Discovered; 'Shei...
Is Virunga’s gorilla king about to lose his throne...
Another kakapo death – Caused by transmitter harne...
Livestock, Not Mongolian Gazelles, Drive Foot-And-...
Coal mining threatening Hwange National Park
Volunteers Clear Tiger Snares in China

I could post “Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner” as the signoff vid (again) but instead here’s “You Got Your Baby Back” by the Mystical Knights of the Oingo Boingo, which tells Patty Hurst's story via the medium of "doo-wop", enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CWR8UI1hV4

KARL SHUKER: THE CRYPTIC KROW - MYSTERY REPTILE, BUT BURGLAR'S FRIEND!

2012-02-03T02:39:00.000-08:00

I've said it many times before, but it still bears repeating – reports of mysterious animals can turn up in the most unexpected places. For example: you're hardly likely to discover a report of an extraordinary, unidentified reptile in the autobiography of a major convicted drug smuggler, right? Wrong!

Read on...

BIG CAT NEWS: Another Gloucestershire cutting

2012-02-03T02:34:00.000-08:00

This cutting, which deals with the Gloucester big cat suspected of having killed a deer recently, was sent in by CFZ author Paul Williams, author of The Mystery Animals of the British isles: Gloucester and Worcester, which was one of Loren Coleman's books of the year in 2011.

Thanks for that mate!

MORE PYGMY ELEPHANT STUFF

2012-02-03T02:03:00.000-08:00

Whilst on the subject of Pygmy Elephants:

http://forteanzoology.blogspot.com/2012/02/cryptozoology-update-on-alleged-pygmy.html
http://forteanzoology.blogspot.com/2012/02/matt-salusbury-pygmy-elephant-update.html

Norman sent this:

DALE DRINNON: The Jade Trade/Cedar and Willow

2012-02-03T01:55:00.000-08:00

Another article on The Jade Trade for both New World and Sundaland versions:
http://frontiers-of-anthropology.blogspot.com/2012/02/origin-of-ancient-jade-tool-baffles.html

And a new one for Cedar And Willow tying in 1960s cartoon Space Angel to the Star Trek continuity
http://cedar-and-willow.blogspot.com/2012/02/space-angels.html

CRYPTOZOOLOGY: Update on the alleged pygmy elephant specimens from Copenhagen University

2012-02-03T01:51:00.000-08:00

Following on from yesterday's post about Matt Salusbury's quest for pygmy elephants, he has sent along another email from our old friend Lars Thomas.

RE: Copenhagen University expedition led by Francois Edmund Blanc to South Cameroon 1955 to collect pygmy elephants
Date: Thu, 2 Feb 2012 20:57:26 +0100
From: Lars Thomas
To: Matt Salusbury

Hi Matt,

I have just received a copy of the original log entry for the two pygmy elephants in the museum's collections. The two specimens (No. 2980 and 2981) were received on Nov. 15 1955. They were shot by Francois Edmond-Blanc in January of that year, and given to the museum by the aforementioned Bøje Benzon.

2980 was a fully grown female, as it had milk in its mammary glands. It had a height of 2,02 m and a lenght of 3,05 m. The museum has the complete skeleton of that.

2981 was also a female, but a younger an considerably smaller animal. Height 1,85 m and lenght 2,73 m. The museum has the skull of this one.

The museum also holds 2 ears, a tale and the sole of one foot, but it is not certain from which of these two animals.

The animals were shot close to the village of Yassonkon, close to the banks of the Nyong River south of Edea. The two animals were from a herd of 12. The 2980 specimen was the biggest of the herd, and Edmond-Blanc apparantly shot it thinking it was a male. The other animal was of medium size in the herd.

There is also a transcript of a letter from Edmond-Blanc where he writes something about the difficulty of hunting in the area, as the visibility is very poor. It is apparantly difficult to separate males and females, as both have fairly small tusks.

I have a pdf of the original log entry which I can send you if you want. It is in Danish, so you won't be able to read a word of it, but at least you can see what it looks like.

As for the photos, it might take a couple of weeks. The various beetle-infested specimens has to be frozen for several days, and there is not enough room for all of them at once. Until that has been taken vare of, none of it is availabe for photographing. But I'll let you know as soon as they become available for me to take some pictures.

best

Lars

If you want to put this on the CFZ website as well - feel free.

BIG CAT NEWS: Palace Puma spotted for first time this year

2012-02-03T01:48:00.000-08:00

Palace Puma spotted for first time this year
7:30am Thursday 2nd February 2012

A mother believes her daughter has spotted the elusive Palace Puma.

Dawn Williams' daughter Georgia, 19, spotted the infamous beast at the end of Sylvan Road.

The 54-year-old said: "Georgia came in from work.

"She was literally shaking and was frightened and said she had just seen an animal down the road.
Read on...

RSPB: The search begins to find 2012’s most wildlife friendly farmer

2012-02-03T01:03:00.000-08:00

The RSPB has launched its annual search to find the farmer that does the most for nature.

The Nature of Farming Award aims to find the farmer who has put in the most work on their land to help wildlife in the countryside. The competition is run by the RSPB, supported by Butterfly Conservation and Plantlife, and sponsored by The Telegraph.

The conservation charity has already received a high level of entries, with applications being accepted until the 20th April.

After the closing date, entries will be shortlisted to eight regional winners, and then a panel of experts will decide which four should go through to the national finals. There will also be a highly commended category, to recognise the efforts of farmers who have excelled in their support of farmland wildlife.

Tony Whitehead, spokesperson for the RSPB in the south west said: “The south west is rich in wildlife, much of this benefitting from the hard work of farmers with the support from agri-environment schemes. In the past few years we’ve had a number of West Country farmers in the finals and would love this to continue. It’s a great opportunity for farmers across the region to showcase what they are doing every day on their farms to look after the fantastic wildlife of our countryside.”

The UK public will decide the overall winner by casting their votes online, over the phone, via The Telegraph, or at country shows throughout the summer. Last year the competition attracted an unprecedented number of votes, with over 22,000 people backing their favourite finalist.

RSPB Head of Species and Habitats Conservation and one of this year’s judges, Darren Moorcroft, said: “There are so many great farmers out there who have taken the small and simple steps, like putting in skylark plots and wild bird seed mixtures, which makes a real difference to health of our countryside.

“The standard of entries and winners since we launched this award in 2008 is truly inspirational. I can’t wait to see this year's gems.”

This year’s judging panel:
Darren Moorcroft - RSPB Head of Species and Habitats Conservation
Martin Warren – Butterfly Conservation Chief Executive
Victoria Chester – Plantlife Chief Executive
Fergus Collins – Countryfile Magazine

All the details on how to enter can be found on the RSPB website at – www.rspb.org.uk/natureoffarming

The EU LIFE+ Programme funds RSPB work which supports wildlife-friendly farming that furthers sustainable development.

YER LOCH LOMOND IMAGE REVISITED

2012-02-02T04:51:00.000-08:00

Both Dale and Max have commented on the story we posted a couple of days about the anomalous object seen on the Google Earth image of Loch Lomond.

I have no doubt that it is a boat wake, but it is interesting that as Max said, it is practically identical to the image found some time ago on Google Earth's pictures of Loch Ness.

What I would like to know is how that specific configuration of waves and foam is created.

This is a bit like the Afghan mystery cat story that we posted recently. None of us had any real hope that the pictures would prove to have been of a known species, but it is the context in which they were taken (in that case, by US Special Forces night sights, and in this case on another lake which has been home to monster reports) that makes it interesting.

HAUNTED SKIES: Daily Telegraph 6.3.59.

2012-02-02T04:49:00.001-08:00

http://hauntedskies.blogspot.com/2012/02/daily-telegraph-6359.html

OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today

2012-02-02T04:48:00.001-08:00

http://cryptozoologynews.blogspot.com/

On this day in 1959 The Big Bopper, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and their pilot Roger Peterson were all killed when their small plane crashed in bad weather in a field near Clear Lake, Iowa, USA.

And now the news:

'Supergiant' crustacean found in deepest ocean (vi...
Sugar Should Be Regulated As Toxin, Researchers Sa...
Litter of Rare, Scruffy-Necked Wolf Pups Born in V...
Ecologist searches for new shrimp species in Guern...
Massive die-off of fish in Philippines
Endangered monkey helped in China
Trumpets of outrage in the outback
Threatened voles found living the high life

This was the last song Buddy Holly sang at the Clearlake concert hours before his death (not “That’ll Be The Day” as popular urban legends would have you believe):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ku5UeUT7yIQ

MATT SALUSBURY: Pygmy Elephant Update

2012-02-02T04:43:00.000-08:00

Jon,

Interesting pygmy elephant development.

The book's coming along nicely, I'm working on the "Africa - misidentification?" chapter which is the longest. I came across this reference in Mysterious Creatures – a guide to cryptozoology vol 2 N-Z by George M. Eberhart

This says that in July 1955, – Francois Edmund Blanc was leading an expedition to South Cameroon to collect pygmy elephants for University of Copenhagen.Eberhart writes, “After three hours of tracking on marshy ground, he came across a group of elephants that did not exceed a shoulder height of six feet."

Naturally I enquired with Lars Thomas of Copenhagen University, who replied today with:

Hi Matt,

Well, wouldn't you know. Thanks to my friend Mogens Andersen, who works at the museum as a curatorial assistant, something rather interesting has turned up. In the 50's and 60's the museum had a benefactor, the owner of a Danish medical company, one Bøje Benzon, he was filthy rich, and a very eager big-game hunter. He travelled all over the world and basically shot everything he could put his gunsights on, and when he wasn't, he paid for other people to do the same, and one of these was Edmond-Blanc, who was in Cameroon in 1955, and who did in fact shoot to very small elephants, two females. Mogens have found the notes on them in the museum archives, they are in danish - I can translate them for you if you want. But what is perhaps even more interesting is the fact that the museum does in fact have the skeleton of one of the animals, and the skull of the other. And I can get you photos of those as well.

The latest is that Lars is translating the Danish language notebooks from the expedition, and getting access to the skull and skeleton in the university museum. This is unfortunately a little difficult as it's fallen victim to a beetle infestation so the mammology bit's all wrapped in plastic or stuck in freezers, but he's on the case.

Most "pygmy elephants" in museum collections turned out to be bog standard misidentifed (often juvenile) forest elephants. The 2003 DNA analysis that concluded there is no such thing, did, however, discover an "isolate" or "clade" of forest elephant populations in Cameroon. The Cameroon-Guinea border was where the type specimen of pygmy elephant "Elephas pumillo" (sorry, it turned out to be a bog-standard forest elephant) was supposedly collected.

Both Lars and myself are happy for this to go up on the bloggo. Will update you. Aiming for publication ready for a Weird Weekend August launch.

MATT SALUSBURY

BIG CATS IN GLOUCESTERSHIRE

2012-02-02T04:29:00.000-08:00

So the latest big cat furore in the British press has come to an end; the DNA tests commissioned on saliva from the carcass of a deer found on National Trust land in Gloucestershire have proved to be from a fox.

Hmmmm.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/feb/02/dna-test-mauled-deer-wild-cat
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-16760599

CRYPTOZOOLOGY/ANTHROPOLOGY: Neanderthals and Europe's oldest civilisation

2012-02-02T03:39:00.000-08:00

New on the Frontiers of Zoology:
http://frontiersofzoology.blogspot.com/2012/01/walk-like-neanderthal.html

And on Frontiers of Anthropology:
http://frontiers-of-anthropology.blogspot.com/2012/02/rondel-settlements-and-europes-oldest.html

JON'S JOURNAL: Frost, footprints and a lagomorph mêlée

2012-02-02T02:42:00.000-08:00

Stuff has got in the way over the last few days and I have not had a chance to write up my ongoing nature diary, so I hope that you will all forgive me that today's episode is particularly long and drawn out.

Last week we had snow for the first time in the winter. It was the first really cold day of the season, and I am afraid that the local animals and plants had - like the humans - got a little too complacent (golly I am being stupidly anthropomorphic here) and there was noticeable frost damage. Unfortunately two of my collection of succulents have been affected - I am going to wait and see what happens in the spring rather than to make hasty decisions about shoving all the plants into the conservatory now. After all as I mentioned the other day my mesembryanthemums die off every year in the frost, but come back renewed in the spring/summer.

The frog spawn at Kennerland appears to have been affected by the weather, but whether the cold was severe enough to kill it only time will tell.

Yesterday Prudence, Corinna and I went out to Huddisford for the first time since the snow, and as you can see there was still quite a lot of snow and ice about.

However the froggies have been active, because there is frogspawn in the ditch that we are following this year. It must be newly laid because it wasn't there last week. I have often wondered whether there is a specific reason for the early January spawn. Most years it is killed by the frost and the frogs lay again in march. I wonder whether this has an ecological purpose - as the dead spawn decays it adds nutrients to the little ecosystem of the ditch/pond. I don't know whether this is a hypothesis worth examining further or just one of my idle wonderings.

The little throughfare up the side of the bank above the Huddisford ditch is still being very regularly used. As you can see from the second photograph, there are at least three sets of different sized footprints here.

In one of the fields at the far point of our walk a little drama was taking place. Two magpies appeared to be mobbing a rook near the ground, and then - out of the middle of the mêlée hopped this little fellow. I thought at first that it was a hare, but it turned out to be a rabbit. I have no idea what actually took place in that particular episode of the zoological soap opera that is Huddisford, but Prudence was so enthralled by it all that she refused to get back in the car, and was chastised.

NIGEL WRIGHT: Big cat reports from the Lake District

2012-02-01T05:41:00.000-08:00

TWO MORE BIG CAT REPORTS FROM THE LAKE DISTRICT

2012 has begun with yet more big cat sightings from the Lake District. The following two reports come from the Westmorland Gazette

Windermere pensioner spots 'big cat' in his garden
6:10pm Tuesday 3rd January 2012
ANOTHER ‘big cat’ sighting in the Lake District has re-opened the debate about what the mysterious animal may be. For years, Westmorland Gazette readers have reported seeing large cats at various places across Cumbria and Lancashire. Startled Windermere pensioner Brian Jowett claims he saw the curious creature in the early hours the week before Christmas. Awoken during the night, Mr Jowett noticed security lights come on at his home at Rowanrigg, on Lake Road. He looked out and saw an animal measuring around two feet long with a bushy tail, which he first believed was a fox. But on closer inspection, the 82-year-old realised he was looking at something he had never seen before. “It was a very large cat, very much like a striped tabby cat with very pronounced rings around its bushy tail, and pointed ears,” said Mr Jowett. “I watched it for about four or five minutes, it looked at me, panicked and went off.” Mr Jowett said he was surprised by his encounter with the fawn-coloured creature as wildcats in the UK are usually found north of the border.

“From information on the Internet, it would appear to be a wildcat but they are not supposed to be anywhere other then remote parts of Scotland,” he added. “I was very surprised. It was strange - we have chickens, which I checked the following day but they hadn’t been disturbed.”
David Harpley, senior conservation officer at Cumbria Wildlife Trust, said the animal might have been a large domestic cat. He also suggested it could be an otter, which people do not often see on dry land. “There are a number of theories about what these things are - one is that they are big cats living free, but it seems a bit unlikely,” said Mr Harpley. “The other is that people are probably not used to seeing male otters, particularly male otters, on dry land. “Otters move across dry land in order to get from one water course to another. It’s a big animal and people might confuse these, potentially, with big cats.”

Mr Harpley added that a large puma-type cat would measure about four or five feet long.
“I would guess this was a large domestic cat.

As January progressed, another big cat sighting from the area was reported…

Angela Jones and Eve Grayson, who say they saw South Lakeland's mystery big cat

Two terrified runners have spoken of their face-to-face encounter with South Lakeland’s mysterious big ‘black cat’. The latest sighting was reported by Angela Jones and Eve Grayson, whose evening jog on Scout Scar was dramatically interrupted at around 6.30pm last Wednesday. They have vowed never to venture up to the popular beauty spot in darkness again after coming across what they said was ‘definitely’ a big cat.

It follows years of apparent sightings of the curious creature in Kendal, Levens, Natland, Witherslack and in the Winster Valley.

The jogging duo, who both live in Kendal, spotted the animal just four metres in front of them on the side of a path. Angela said the animal was jet black, the same size as a Labrador, had long legs, a tail and was staring straight at them. “We stopped, shone our head torches towards it to get a better look and saw two orange eyes and the outline of a large feline animal,” said Angela “It was definitely a big cat.”

As they moved towards the beast, Eve, a student, reported that its tail moved and ‘bristled’, similar to a cat’s when it is angry. But fear quickly set in and they decided to run in the opposite direction. Angela, who works for Cumbria County Council, said it was an ‘amazing experience’ but also ‘a bit frightening’.

“We were terrified because it was dark and we didn’t know what it was going to do, or whether it was going to follow us. It is not something you expect to see in this country – and not so close.”
Later that night, they turned to the internet to try to establish what they had seen.
Angela – who said she had never taken previous big cat sightings seriously – was surprised by the number of reports locally.

Word of their brush with the mystery moggy has been met with scepticism by some, but Angela and Eve are adamant about what they saw.

“People still don’t believe it but we know what we saw,” said Angela. “They say: ‘Are you sure it wasn’t a cow or a sheep’ – we were close enough to see that it wasn’t.

“It’s almost like we want to see it again to get a picture to prove it to people.”

And so it continues!…When will the government finally come clean over big cats?. How many more reliable, daylight sightings must there be, before the true emerges, and we all know , once and for all, that these beautiful creatures really do roam our English countryside!…

CHRIS CLARK IS IN TAHITI..

2012-02-01T05:29:00.000-08:00

Jon

So why shouldn't Tahiti have a monster just like everywhere else?

Chris

HARD DRIVES FOR TIBET

2012-02-01T05:28:00.000-08:00

I thought you might be interested in an URGENT appeal I’m running for the Meridian Trust, which could benefit 56,000 Tibetans living in exile.

We need just x40 hard drives. Can you help by providing one?

That old spare hard drive, abandoned in the corner of your desk space would give several thousand Tibetans, lay and monastic, direct access to their heritage and in doing so would enable us to fulfil H.H. Dalai Lama’s request for his people.

In the 1980′s, at the urgent request of H.H. the Dalai Lama the Meridian Trust began to film many of the old teachers who escaped from Tibet before they passed away. This original filming initiative came to be known as the Lama Project; a total of 600 hours of unique footage was recorded.

To learn more about the Project go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MciTeg3r548
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=xcNtoNeR228

Meridian Trust has digitized and encoded these 600 hours of unique Buddhist teachings so that they fit onto a 120GB (or larger) portable hard drive. In March this year around 40 representatives from the major monasteries of India and Nepal are meeting at Sarnath University, India, making this the ideal opportunity to give each monastery a copy of the Lama Project on hard drive.

You can help by:

Donating any spare120gb hard drives? (Using our FREEPOST address).
Sponsoring a monastery by buying hard drive using our Amazon Wish List: http://www.amazon.co.uk/registry/wishlist/1MWXVQCQQ62OJ
Making a donation to The Meridian Trust via PayPal our account address is: admin@meridian-trust.org
DONATE ONLINE via our website: http://meridian-trust.org/wp/?page_id=101

While the Tibetans have had so much of their culture and traditions destroyed, the culmination of the Lama Project directly gives back something of what has been lost. We are sincerely grateful for any contributions you feel you can make towards helping us achieve our goal.

Anyone giving to this URGENT appeal before the end of February 2012 will receive a FREE CD of ‘Songs for Tibet’.

View the map of the network of Monasteries: http://www.tibetanknowledge.org/provisional/map.html

Monasteries that will benefit:
Ulan Bator: Gandan Monastery Library, Mongolian National Library
Ladakh: Lama Yuru Monastery
Himachal Pradesh: Drolma Ling Nunnery, Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, Menri Bon Monastic Centre, Thupten Dorjidak Institute, Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts, Tibetan Medical Institute
Dehra Dun: Bon Zamongyal Yungdrung Ling Monastery, Drikung Kagyu Institute, Mindroling Monastery, Ngor Monastery, Sakya College, Sakya Monastery
Kathmandu: Shechen Monastery, Thukche Choling Nunnery, Trangu Tashi Choling Monastery, Triten Norbutse Bonpo Education Centre
Sikkim: Dodrup Chen Monastery, Rumtek College, Sikkim Institute of Tibetology
Arunachal Pradesh: Gyuto Monastic University
Varanasi: Central Institute for Higher Tibetan Studies, CIHTS Medical Institute, Thrangu Vajra Vidhya Institute
Orissa: Dechen Choephel Ling Monastery
North Kanara: Drepung Gomang Monastic University, Drepung Loseling Monastic University, Ganden Shartse Monastic University, Ganden Jangtse Monastic University, Jangchub Choling Nunnery
Mysore:. Dekey Larsoe Computer Input Centre, Dzongkar Chode College, Gyumey Monastic University, Ngagyur Nyingma Monastery, Rabling Computer Input Centre, Sera Jey Monastic University, Sera Mey Monastic University

THANK YOU for any help you can offer!

Very best wishes,

Dolma Beresford
Director

HAUNTED SKIES: Daily Telegraph 6.2.59.

2012-02-01T04:25:00.000-08:00

http://hauntedskies.blogspot.com/2012/02/daily-telegraph-6259.html

OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today

2012-02-01T04:24:00.000-08:00

http://cryptozoologynews.blogspot.com/
On this day in 1653 the city of New Amsterdam, which later became New York, was incorporated (nothing too Fortean about that it just gives me an excuse to post a link to one of my favourite songs as the signoff vid today).

And now the news:

Land of the rising Sunfish
Get your garden ready for wildlife
Kerala biodiversity body stops export of rare goat...
A Vast Canadian Wilderness Poised for a Uranium Bo...
What Do Killer Whales Eat in the Arctic?
Scientists reveal how females store sperm for deca...
Marine study in Singapore digs up 100 species
Black squirrels could outnumber reds in England
Residents urged not to feed red kites in Chilterns...
Vets take action to save Poland's lynx

Even old New York was once New Amsterdam, why’d they change it I can’t say, people just liked it better that way:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ynuwcd8SAhE

CRYPTOZOOLOGY ONLINE: On The Track (Of Unknown Animals) Episode 54

2012-02-01T03:40:00.000-08:00

The latest episode of our monthly webTV show from the CFZ and CFZtv, bringing you news on our activities within cryptozoology and natural history as well as the latest cryptozoological, and monster hunting news from around the world.

This episode brings you:

CFZ in winter
The first snow and snow damage
Walking
The ditches of Huddisford
What happenned to the fallow deer
Animal crossing
Unseasonal flowers
Coloured frogs
Kennerland Cross
Moles
The Walland Farm trailcams
Walland Farm at night
Badgers/deer/rabbits/foxes
Are there still red squirrels in Devon?
Bigfoot in storage
The Loch Lomond Monster
The cat who steals tobacco
Corinna looks at out of place birds
New and Rediscovered: Rediscovered monkey
New and Rediscovered: New lemur
New and Rediscovered: New tiny frogs